Legendary North Carolina State swim coach Don Easterling died early Saturday morning. He was 88 years old.

According to an email sent to NC State swimming & diving alumni, he had been battling illness for weeks. While that email didn't specify, other program alumni have said he was hospitalized within the last week while battling pneumonia and COVID-19.

A coaching legend in the swimming world, Coach E had been battling illness these last couple of weeks and fought valiantly until the very end one more day, one more lap," Grant Johnston wrote in the email.
Easterling coached the Fort Worth Panther Boy's Club and Burford Aquatic Club from 1952-1970 in Texas, and led the University of Texas at Arlington to national prominent from 1966-1970, including an NCAA runner-up performance in 1969.
He is most synonymous, though, with the team at NC State, where he coached for 24 years. There he led the Wolfpack to 17 ACC titles, 15 for men and 2 for women. That included 12 consecutive men's titles from 1971 through 1982.
He had a career dual-meet record of 329-128 (.720) winning percentage), and coached five Olympians to seven Olympic medals.
Easterling retired mid-season in 1994, at the time saying that he was "tired and worn out" amid a 5th knee operation and ongoing back problems.

https://swimswam.com/long-time-nc-state-coach-don-easterling-dies-88/

Don Easterling, a Hall of Fame coach and mentor to generations of athletes, died on Saturday at the age of 90.

Easterling served as the head coach at NC State for 24 years (1970-94), leading the Wolfpack to 17 ACC titles (15 men, 2 women). The men won 12 consecutive crowns under his leadership from 1971-82. He posted a career record of 328-118 and his teams went 162-64 vs. ACC competition.

He coached 40 All-America performances (24 men, 16 women), seven future Olympians, including five medalists and four Pan Am games medalists.

In 1973, Easterling's Wolfpack pulled off one of the most dominant accomplishments in the history of college swimming by winning each of the 17 events at the ACC championship meet. He also began the NC State women's swimming program and led it to back-to-back ACC titles in 1979-80.

Named the National Collegiate and Scholastic Swimming Coach of the Year in 1993, Easterling was the 1984 and 1992 men's ACC Men's Swimming Coach of the Year and received that honor for the women in 1991. He was inducted into the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.

Easterling was named head coach at NC State in 1970, taking over for Willis Casey.

"We will all miss the fiery, passionate, and unique coach, Don Easterling," said current Head Coach Braden Holloway. "There are so many stories that someone could say about him, and they still wouldn't do him justice. He was a pioneer of the sport, wore his heart on his sleeve, and influenced so many at NC State, the stories about him still echo today. He's been a big supporter of Wolfpack swimming and diving ever since he stepped away from coaching and he's always been a great mentor and friend of mine, always wearing his red."

Holloway shared that Easterling "was one of the all-time greats in NC State history for any sport. Coaching teams to 17 conference championships is an amazing feat, but better than that are the stories that you hear from the alumni about Coach Easterling and how he led this program with so much passion. One of my favorite pictures (in link below) of Don is after he jumped in at the end of a meet to celebrate with a young man after they won the last relay and that right there sums up Coach Don Easterling. We're all going to miss him."

https://gopack.com/news/2023/1/14/swimming-wolfpack-mourns-the-loss-of-hall-of-fame-coach.aspx

Don Easterling coached some of NC State's best swimmers, including 40 All-Americans and seven future Olympians, while leading Wolfpack teams to 17 ACC titles in 24 years. The legendary coach died Saturday at his Virginia home at the age of 90.

https://news.ncsu.edu/2023/01/easterling-remembered-as-a-master-motivator/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=ncstatealumni&utm_content=54b79436-1755-40d1-b081-1a7244390941&utm_campaign=socialhub