The Final Word: Jack Bauerle
July 06, 2022 | Swimming & Diving, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
For most of his life, Jack Bauerle has gotten up early, well before dawn, and headed to the pool. A driven and determined swimmer, Bauerle became a legendary coach by mixing that drive and determination with his passion for working with talented and motivated people and his deep love for the University of Georgia.
On June 8, Bauerle, Georgia's women's swimming and diving head coach since 1979 and the men's coach since 1983, the longest-tenured coach of any sport in the SEC, retired. During his storied career, Bauerle guided the Georgia women's program to seven NCAA team titles, produced dozens of individual men's and women's NCAA champions and Olympians, and was the head coach of the 2008 U.S. Olympic women's team. During a recent Q&A, Bauerle said he was still waking up really early, but now he could roll over and get some more sleep if he wanted.
Bauerle, a Philadelphia-area native, came to Georgia in the fall of 1970. By the time he was done swimming, he had set school records in the 200-yard butterfly and the 1,650 freestyle. He'd also fallen head over heals in love with UGA and Athens, and that love has only grown stronger in the decades that have followed. As he said in this interview, Georgia is the place that gave him his life.
One of the most accomplished and beloved coaches in Georgia history, Bauerle sat down for one last Quick Chat, or Final Word, to discuss his plans for the future, his appreciation for the past, and the best moments from his time as a Bulldog. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: What have these last few weeks been like?
Bauerle: Great [laughs]. I can't stop thinking about the swimmers and I was involved in the practices for Luca (Urlando) and Chase (Kalisz) while they were over in Budapest (for the world championships), and that didn't stop until three or four days ago.
I think more than anything else, for the first time in my life I don't feel like I'm rushing around. I was involved in a sport that revolves around a clock and I was tied to one also. Up at 4:30 or 5 every morning for 40-plus years, and then when you do that, you can't really sleep at all when you can. On a Sunday I was usually up at 5:30 or 6.
I'm still waking up pretty early but I'm just taking it easy, spending time at the house with (wife) Leigh Ann, (son) Duke, and I don't have to rush off. It's pretty cool.
Frierson: Are you rolling over until 6 or do you still get up?
Bauerle: The last week I've gotten better about going back to bed for another 30 minutes or something. I imagine it will be a while before I'm really sleeping in — I've never needed much sleep; I probably needed it, I just didn't get it.
The neat thing is, I've already done a couple of things that I haven't done. I've taken time to see a couple of people that I haven't seen, that I should have seen, and I have a lot of things booked already. I'm going to be an officiant for Shannon Vreeland, she's getting married — another gold medalist — and that's an honor, a terrific honor. I knew I could say yes to it, when she asked, because I knew this was forthcoming. That's important to me, to be able to do that for a former athlete — it's one of my greatest honors.
I've got some things in the book: I've got some pheasant hunting; I've got a surf trip to Costa Rica; I've got to do some therapy on my knee replacements to get some more range of motion. I'm also definitely in the books for the Army-Navy game at West Point next year. And I'm going fishing on the Snake River out in Idaho, as well as a hunting trip down in the bayou (in Louisiana).
Leigh Ann and I are also now in the planning stage of taking a safari next summer.
Frierson: Is there anything you've said no to at this point? It sounds like you've said yes to a heck of a lot already.
Bauerle: I've said yes to everything so far, and anything else that comes up, I'll probably say yes to that, too.
Frierson: Is there anything that you were scared of as it relates to retiring?
Bauerle: No, not at all. I have a lot of stuff I want to do — it's piling up, actually. There are places I want to go and many things I want to see with Leigh Ann and the boys. I want to sit in on some classes here, because I could have done a better job when I was here as an undergrad [laughs]. I'll probably pay attention more now.
The only thing I was afraid of, I guess, I just know I'm going to miss being with the swimmers. Do they keep you young? Yes, they do. Seeing them in the mornings, there's a real strong connection after you spend that much time together. Not coaching them, that's the hardest part.
Frierson: When you got to Athens as a freshman, what did you think your future would look like? Did you have any idea of what you wanted to do after college?
Bauerle: It's funny, and I don't think I was in any way unique: I think a lot of us went to school back then not having any idea. We just went to school. ... I didn't give it one thought. I was going day-to-day and the first time I gave it any thought was probably my junior year, and that's because of my two English professors that I really liked. They started guiding me. And my fifth year, when I was finishing school, I was asked to coach.
I had a whole group to work with and I was thrust in like a full-time assistant, but I was called a fifth-year guy. I started coaching and I though, OK, I think I can do this and maybe teach English somewhere at a prep school. That's about as close I got to it.
Frierson: Is there one moment that stands out above all others? Is there one collegiate moment and one Olympic or international moment?
Bauerle: One college moment would be my last race. It didn't turn out as well as I would have liked, and I never really swam as well as I did my freshman and sophomore years, when I swam for John Stafford (a graduate assistant at the time and the father of former Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford). I wasn't that talented and I had to work harder than most, and John worked me harder than most. And I loved it.
That sticks out, that disappointment, and that's maybe not a bad thing. I think sometimes that helps you as a coach.
On the coaching side, two things stand out — equally important but very, very different. I was by myself in 2000 at Sydney and I borrowed a phone to call my mom and Coach Dooley. That was a proud moment because we had five women that made that Olympic team, and that was my first Olympic appointment (as an assistant coach).
That was a dream come true, but the year before that (when Georgia hosted the 1999 NCAA Championships), when I look up in the stands and I see my mom sitting with Coach Dooley and Coach Magill and Dick Shoulberg, who was my mentor at Germantown Academy, an Olympic coach himself. And then we won the national championship.
I think that might have been the best night of my life. Everyone I wanted to please was there. To be a part of a national championship for Georgia, when back in the 1970s and '80s and even the early '90s was considered not even possible, that night sticks out big time.
The other one was really recent, when Chase (Kalisz) and Jay (Litherland) won gold and silver (in the 400-meter individual medley) at the Tokyo Olympics last year. I've got to tell you, I don't remember anything for five or six hours after that. ... As many years as I have coached, I was not prepared for that. I've had elation but that was on a level that I have never experienced — and I don't remember hardly a thing. Nothing prepared me for that.
Frierson: Did you consider retiring right after that?
Bauerle: Yes. I just felt it was untimely to do that because it was August when I was coming back. I thought it was important to do another year, for sure. It was fun, I had a fun year, and it was a better way to do it.
I wasn't burned out on coaching, I'm not burned out on it at all, but for the first time in my life I just feel like I need more time to be with those I love. That's it. No matter what you say, that's what it all comes down to.
Frierson: You're one of my favorite people and you've had one heck of a career. Congratulations, and I hope you have a blast in retirement.
Bauerle: The best thing you can ever hear — when I announced the retirement, the one phrase that rang loud and clear, and the one I heard most often, was "Thanks for doing a good job." And, truly, that's the best thing I could have ever heard. That's all I wanted, hearing that you did a good job at the place that gave you your life.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
