Jon Urbanchek (2004) - Hall of Fame - Long Beach State University Athletics

Jon Urbanchek

Induction:
2004

Was the head men’s swim coach at the University of Michigan for 22 years... before going to Michigan, Urbanchek spent 20 years coaching in Southern California... from 1979-82, he was the head coach at Long Beach State University, and in 1981 he earned Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA) Coach of the Year honors... all four of his 49er teams finished in the Top 30 in the country at the NCAA Swimming Championships... Urbanchek was recently hired at Soka University in Aliso Viejo as Assistant Swim Coach and Co-Director of the Soka University Swim Camps... in his 22 years at Michigan, Urbanchek helped guide the Wolverines to a total of 13 Big Ten Conference Championship titles, 10 of them in consecutive years (1986-95)... his teams have lost just four Big Ten Conference dual meets, compared to his 100 victories, including a span of 42 straight league duals from 1988-89 to the end of the 1998-99 season... Urbanchek led Michigan to four straight NCAA top 3 finishes from 1993-96, the only team to accomplish such a feat in that time span... the Wolverines finished in the Top 10 in 15 of the last 17 seasons at the NCAA Championships... in 1995 Michigan won the NCAA National Championship, and it was Michigan's 11th such title, tying it with Ohio State for the national record... Urbanchek himself was a member of Michigan's 1958, 1959 and 1961 NCAA champion teams, lettering four years at UM (1958-62)... he was named the 1995 NCAA Coach of the Year... Urbanchek also received the 1995 Swimming Coach of the Year award from the American Swimming Coaches Association... Urbanchek will be making his sixth Olympic appearance this August in Athens.