Skip Kenney

Stanford wins its 30th consecutive Pac 10 swimming championships in Long Beach, Calfornia. Will and I disappointed as Cal favored going into the week end. The Cardinal racked up 911 points, followed by the Bears (864) USC (534), Arizona (483), Arizona State (273), UC Santa Barbara (184) and Cal Poly (158). 30 in a row - the last time Stanford lost the title I was a Sr at Berkeley High. For Pete's sake.

Stanford's success no doubt because of coach Skip Kinney (photo from Stanford), who has been with the Cardinal since '85. Not surprisingly, given yesterday, he has been the NCAA Coach of the Year six times and Pac-10 Coach of the Year 21 times; he was Head Coach of the US Men's Swimming Team at the '96 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and assistant coach at the '84 and '88 games. Like Mike Troy, Kenney from the military: Marine Corps, with combat in Vietnam for 13 months in 1965 to 1966; four months spent as a sniper. Kinney brings a military sensibility to training: "Whether you are racing or in combat, for you to be at your best, your mind takes over and your body follows. Your expectations rise." No shit - getting chased by the Cong in a 500 freestyle would bring the best out of anybody.

When I was a youngster I spoke to Kinney about swimming for Stanford though I would have been hard pressed to score a point at the Pac 10s looking at today's results (nor was I accepted to Stanford). Kinney was quiet and intense - few words but big presence - and he always had a smile or nice word when I saw him at swimming meets around Norcal.