Staff Writer
Jack Bauerle has a lot of happy places. Given that the longtime Tom Cousins Swimming and Diving Head Coach is almost always among the happiest people in the world, that's not a surprise.
On the deck at Georgia's Gabrielsen Natatorium is a happy place. On one of the clay tennis courts at the Athens Country Club is a happy place. Anywhere with his family is a happy place. On a surfboard is a happy place. At a table in Big City Bread's courtyard is a happy place.
And where he is right now, with the U.S. Olympic swim team in Tokyo, that's about as happy as it gets.
"I love representing Georgia at the Olympic Games," said Bauerle, who has led Georgia's women's team to seven national championships. "It's the highest of highs in our sport and I've learned to appreciate each one a bit more."
It wasn't that long ago that Georgia and Bauerle weren't part of every U.S. Olympic swim team. In 1996, when the Games were held in Atlanta and the swimming at Georgia Tech's pool, Sheila Taormina, who won gold in the 800-meter freestyle relay, was Georgia's only swimmer on the U.S. team. (Wan Abdullah swam for Malaysia and Allan Murray for the Bahamas).
Those Olympics, so close to home, were the turning point for the Georgia program.
"That gave me a lot of incentive for the next time around," Bauerle said back in 2016 before serving as an assistant men's coach at the Rio Olympics. "I wanted to be more of a part of it, without question. That got me going and I think our best years came right after, and then, lo and behold, we put a bunch on the team in 2000.
"It was certainly an impetus to push me to be a better coach, wanting to be a real part of what was going on."
Georgia hadn't won an NCAA team title at that point, but that soon changed. The women won three straight from 1999-2001 and have added four more since. There were seven Georgia swimmers on the 2000 U.S. team, and several others on international squads, and for the first time, Bauerle was an assistant coach for the U.S. Taormina was also there, competing in the triathlon for the first time.
In 2004, in Athens, Greece, Bauerle was there as a personal coach, with three former Bulldogs on the U.S. swim team, plus multiple international competitions, and Taormina was again competing in the triathlon.
When the 2008 Beijing Olympics came around, Bauerle was the head coach of the U.S. women's team, and again there were plenty of Bulldogs competing. Taormina was back, as well, in her fourth Olympics, this time in the modern pentathlon. That was Georgia and U.S. swimming legend Allison Schmitt's first Olympics, and in Tokyo, she will compete in her fourth.
"Schmitty is the second one in our history to make four teams, that's pretty special," Bauerle said. "We're proud of her and the swimmers we have like her that have been doing this a while and they still like swimming. That's when we feel like we've done something good, because they left us after college and they still loved it. At this point in time in her life, you can't be good unless you do."
The same holds true for the 69-year-old Bauerle, who came to swim at Georgia from Philadelphia in the early 1970s and has been coaching the Bulldogs for more than 40 years. He couldn't do it if he didn't love it, and boy does he love it.
"I'm proud. I'm proud to represent Georgia and proud to represent the USA," he said. "I know it sounds a little bit sappy but it means a great deal to me that Georgia's in the limelight with our athletes, and I get to represent Georgia on the biggest stage in our sport."
The U.S. swim team has a huge Georgia footprint this year, with seven former Bulldogs on the squad, plus Javier Acevedo is swimming for Canada and current Bulldog Duné Coetzee on the South African team. In addition, two swimmers that didn't attend Georgia but train under Bauerle and the Bulldogs' coaches, Andrew Wilson and Natalie Hinds, are on the U.S. team.
One big thing that will be missing from the Tokyo Olympics is the mass gathering of all of the participants at the opening ceremonies. Because of the pandemic, that won't happen this year. Bauerle has loved being a part of the opening ceremonies almost as much as he's loved seeing his swimmers shine in the pool.
"I love that part of it, as you know, because it's a great feeling. I think the Olympics is the one time the whole world's galvanized and united. In my lifetime, the only thing like it is maybe July 20, 1969, when we landed on the moon," he said.
"The feeling that you have at the Olympic Games, to me, it's like Woodstock with sports [laughs]. It's just a great feeling, and I'm going to miss it. But at this point in time, I'm just thankful that the Olympics are happening."
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.
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