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/
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/