Arguably the greatest swimming coach, researcher and innovator of all time, the late James "Doc" Counsilman left his mark at SUNY Cortland as a physical education professor and swim coach in the early 1950's before becoming an NCAA and Olympic coaching legend at Indiana University.
Born in 1920, he grew up in St. Louis, Mo., and attended Ohio State University. He left to join the Army Air Corps, flying 32 missions as a bomber pilot during World War II. After the war, he returned to Ohio State and won national titles in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Graduating in 1947, he earned a master’s degree at the University of Illinois, writing his thesis on the breast stroke. In 1951, he earned a doctorate from the University of Iowa, where his dissertation focused on the crawl stroke.
Counsilman joined the SUNY Cortland Physical Education Department faculty and became the swim coach in 1952. Over the next five years, he employed some of his soon-to-be famous swimming techniques to develop George Breen, a Cortland student athlete and future charter member of the C-Club Hall of Fame, into one of America’s top swimmers, a world record holder, Olympic medalist and the U.S. swim team captain.
By 1954, Counsilman was attracting national attention for his publications about the importance of improving the muscular strength of swimmers.
After leaving SUNY Cortland in 1957, he took what was a mediocre swim program at Indiana University and quickly built it into one of the greatest dynasties in collegiate athletics. Over the next 33 years, Counsilman’s swim squads posted a 285-41 record, including 18 undefeated seasons — including 12 in a row — while winning 20 Big Ten titles and six straight NCAA national championships. His student-athletes included Mark Spitz, whose seven gold medals in the 1972 Olympics is still a record.
He coached the USA men’s swim team to 9-of-11 gold medals at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo and 12-of-13 gold medals at Montreal in 1976. The two other golds won at Tokyo were by international student-athletes on his Indiana team.
Counsilman is better known for his research and innovations in stroke mechanics and training techniques. He developed the science of swimming. His study of the mechanics of the sport led him to write The Science of Swimming, now considered the bible of swimming instruction.
He invented several swimming apparatuses that are staples in the sport today. Counsilman’s anti-wave lane lines are large paddlewheel devices that divide lanes and significantly cut down on water turbulence, allowing for faster swimming. He also developed a pace clock that allowed swimmers to keep their own time during interval training, a training method popular in track and field that Counsilman discovered also worked well with swimmers.
The Indiana University-Bloomington’s Counsilman/Billingsley Aquatic Center and the Counsilman Center for the Science of Swimming bear his name. The Indiana University Natatorium, located on the Indiana University-Purdue University of Indiana campus, was designed by Counsilman in 1982 and is one of the fastest pools in the world.
Counsilman died on Jan. 4, 2004 at the age of 83. He is survived by his wife, Marge, their children: Brian, Cathy and Jill; and five grandchildren.
