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Richard Sybesma enters his 29th year at the helm of the TCU swimming and diving program. With him he brings the entire history of the team, his winning record, his keen leadership and intuition and half of his life. In 1978, he took the TCU club sport of swimming and turned it into the powerhouse that it is today.
Last season, Sybesma led the Horned Frogs to a 19-7 dual meet record and tallied his 350th career win on Nov. 18, 2006 against San Diego State and Centenary. Sybesma has coached in more than 600 dual meets, and his overall career record now stands at 358-242-3 (.597).
Sixteen Frogs were named to the All-Mountain West Conference team in 2007, and Guillermo Ramirez and Cheryl Townsend both claimed MWC Individual Titles. The Frogs also set four new school records and set two NCAA "B" qualifying times.
In TCU's inaugural year in the Mountain West Conference in 2006, the women's squad set a school record with 15 victories and also swam to a strong fourth-place showing at the conference championships. Overall, the men and women held a dual meet record of 21-6.
Prior to joining the Mountain West Conference, the Frogs spent four seasons in Conference USA. During this time, TCU collected five conference titles and tallied an overall dual meet record of 78-20 (.796).
In 2004, Sybesma led the Horned Frogs to a 21-3 dual meet record and the first ever single-school sweep at the C-USA Championships. Craig Chapman earned Swimmer of the Meet honors, after the junior notched three invidual titles and was a member of two winning relay teams. On Feb. 7, Sybesma tallied his 300th career win after the Frogs swept a dual against Centenary.
During his tenure, he has also coached 18 all-Americans, seven national champions, 15 Olympic trial qualifiers and one Olympian. In addition, all TCU swimming and diving records have been set during his coaching
career and during the 1999-2000 campaigns, the men ranked among the top-25 in the nation.
Sybesma has been honored as the Coach of the Year four times in his career. In 2004, he received the honor after leading the Frogs to a conference sweep. In 2002, Sybesma earned the Coach of the Meet honors at the C-USA Men's Invitational Championship after the men claimed their first of four consecutive conference titles. As a coach in the Southwest Conference, he was named the Coach of the Year on three different occasions (1981, 1989, 1991). On the national level, Sybesma was honored with the Master Coach Award in 1992 that is given by the College Swim Coaches Association.
In addition, he also was the recipient of the C-USA Student Athlete Advisory Committee's Coaches Award (SAAC) as voted on by student athletes from around the conference. This honor is given to the coach who exemplifies a commitment to creating a positive academic and athletic atmosphere while fostering the student-athlete's development and welfare.
His resume doesn't end there. In 1996, Sybesma coached the Nicaraguan Olympic swim team at the Atlanta games. He took Walter Soza and Jason Flint to the NCAA Championships, where in 1997, Flint placed 16th in the 200-yard breaststroke. That same year, Sybesma tallied his 200th dual meet win. In 2001, in memory of former Horned Frog swimmer Matt Walter, he carried the Olympic Torch through the TCU campus. In 2003, Sybesma was invited to coach at the NCAA Division I Men's Swimming Youth Education Through Sports (YES) in New York.
Sybesma's swimmers not only excel in the pool, but in the classroom as well. The College Coaches Association has named his women's team to its Academic All-American swim team for 31 consecutive semesters. The men have also tallied that honor nine times under his guidance.
Last spring, 13 swimmers from the women's team were named to the Academic All-MWC Team, which led all other TCU sports. In addition, six men's swimmers received All-MWC recognition. Four women's swimmers were also named MWC Scholar-Athletes for earning a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
Sybesma is also extremely involved in the community. He has conducted swim lessons and clinics in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Malaysia, as well as here in Fort Worth. His international connection also extends to Fort Worth's sister city, Reggio Emilia, Italy, where he coached in 1987. Sybesma has also been a speaker at the NISCA Clinic, TISCA and the Southwest Coaches Clinic.
Sybesma graduated from Texas Tech University in 1975 with a Bachelor's degree in Physical Education. While with the Red Raiders, he was a three-year letterman and captain of the swim team. In 1992, he earned his Master of Liberal Arts degree from TCU.
Sybesma has two daughters: Courtney (24) and Katy (22).
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