Ray Bussard

Ray Bussard, age 82 of Knoxville, died Wednesday night, September 22, 2010 at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center from a long bout with diabetes, which worsened over the past six months. Coach Bussard led the University of Tennessee to a 1978 NCAA swimming championship and eight SEC titles. He produced NCAA and Olympic champions David Edgar (early 1970s) and Matt Vogel (mid-70s). Edgar defeated Mark Spitz three consecutive years in the 50-yard freestyle at the NCAA championships. Vogel won two golds and an NCAA title in the 100 butterfly in 1976. Coach Bussard was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Swimming Hall of Fame (which he established in 1982), Tennessee and Virginia sports halls of fame, Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame, Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, College Swimming Coaches Hall of Fame, Bridgewater College Hall of Fame, and was NCAA coach of the year in 1972 and 1978. Yet he never swam a race in competition. He was sprint coach for the U.S. team in the 1984 Olympics at Los Angeles, and coach U.S. teams in the 1979 Pan Am Games and Pan Pacific Games. He coached the Vols 21 seasons after a stellar career of coaching football, baseball, track and boys and girls basketball at six Virginia high schools; and coaching football and track in two high schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee. A native of Highland County, Virginia, Coach Bussard met his wife to be, Ruth Cauley, while teaching at Craigsville, VA, the first of five Virginia schools he coached. Coach had an and overall record of 252-20 (.926) in 21 seasons. His dual meet record of 178-20 (.899) included nine undefeated seasons in that period. He guided the program from an all-freshman team in 1968 to an NCAA championship in 10 years, and the Vols never finished out of the top four in the country. Coach Bussard came to the University of Tennessee in the winter of 1966, saw the construction of the UT Aquatic Center in 1967, and in 1968, he put the Vols on the road that would establish them as a national power. Ray coached the swim team at UT for 22 years and retired in 1989, the year the UT Student Aquatic Center indoor pool was named for him. His tenure was the longest for a head coach at UT without interrupted service until Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summitt surpassed that achievement. The coach also became known for the added tradition he brought – including the wearing of coonskin caps, emptying a bottle of their home water into an opponent's pool and featuring the Vol Timettes at home meets. Coach Bussard led an all-freshmen squad to a second-place finish in the Southeastern Conference in 1968. The following year, the Vols broke Florida's 13-year streak of SEC championships. Three years later in 1972, Bussard won another conference title and won the next six consecutively until 1979. Coach Bussard received National Coach of the Year honors in 1972 and 1978, as well as being named the SEC Coach of the Year in 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977 and 1978. He was an assistant coach at the USA-USSR Dual Meet in 1978 and served as Meet Coordinator for the 1982 USA-USSR Dual Meet held at UT. In 1952 he won The National All-around Track and Field Championships. Ray and Ruth Bussard established the Baton of Victory Award in 1987 to honor all men's and women's coaches of NCAA championship teams. Coach Bussard is survived by his wife of 62 years, Ruth; daughters, Terry Hughes and her husband, Ron of Norfolk, VA; Christy Bussard of Knoxville; Jackie Bussard Bertucci and her husband, Chris of Knoxville, and grandsons, Henry and Stephen Bertucci of Knoxville. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The University of Tennessee Athletic Department, Men's Swim Team in care of UT Athletic Department, 1551 Lake Loudoun Blvd., Knoxville, Tn., 37996.

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Ray Bussard

August 12, 1928 - September 22, 2010