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Paul Blair (swimming)
Encyclopedia
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
who specialized in sprint
Sprint (race)
Sprints are short running events in athletics and track and field. Races over short distances are among the oldest running competitions. The first 13 editions of the Ancient Olympic Games featured only one event—the stadion race, which was a race from one end of the stadium to the other...
training. He was known for the many sprinters he trained to the highest level of swimming competition. Blair was one of the first coaches to emphasize that in order to sprint, you must practice sprinting. In fact, most sprint coaches today have based their swim workouts on Blair's method. Coach Blair has trained many notable swimmers, including John Hargis
John Hargis
John Hargis is an Olympic gold-medalist swimmer from the USA, and currently is the Head Swimming & Diving Coach at Penn State...
(Olympic gold medalist
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
), Steve Crocker, Doug Boyd
Doug Boyd
Doug Boyd is an American voice actor and editor. He has been in the business since the 1980s.-Voice roles:* Puzzle Agent 2 .... Nelson Tethers* Puzzle Agent .... Nelson Tethers...
, Kicker Vencill
Kicker Vencill
Kicker Vencill is an American swimmer who won a lawsuit against a dietary supplement company for having contaminated multi-vitamins which caused him to be suspended from swimming for two years from 2003, even though they were prescribed to him by his doctor. The court awarded him over US$500,000....
, Matt Weghorst, Bobby O'Bryan, Tom Genz, Noel Strauss, and Manuel Twillie.
Blair was known around the world for his sprinting methods, which became apparent through the accomplishments of his swim team, the Arkansas Dolphins, based in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
. Blair led the Dolphins to a men's U.S. Open
U.S. Open (swimming)
The U.S. Open in swimming was held annually in November or December since 1985. The meet is open for all swimmers who have made the time limits.-Combined:-Men's:-Women's:-Venues:*1985 - Austin, Texas*1986 - Orlando, Florida*1987 - Orlando, Florida...
title in 1988 and then a men's National
United States Swimming Championships
The United States Swimming Championships are held annually in the summer. The event is governed by USA Swimming.-Venues:*1962 - Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio , Chicago, Illinois *1963 - Oak Park, IL , High Point, North Carolina...
title in 1989 in less than ten years as head coach.
Blair was the head coach and owner of the Arkansas Dolphins. He was also Associate Head Coach for the UALR Trojans
UALR Trojans
The UALR Trojans is the name by which the athletic teams of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock are known. The Trojans are a non-football member of the Sun Belt Conference. The University offers 6 men's and 9 women's varsity sports....
Women's Swim Team.
He served on the Olympic International Operations Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
and is past Vice-President of the American Swim Coaches Association. He served as the Head Coach for the USA World Championship team, as coach for the National Junior Team at the Youth Olympic Festival, and as men's coach at the World University Games
Universiade
The Universiade is an International multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation . The name is a combination of the words "University" and "olympiad"...
. He was a Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
Advisory Coach and USA National
United States Swimming Championships
The United States Swimming Championships are held annually in the summer. The event is governed by USA Swimming.-Venues:*1962 - Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio , Chicago, Illinois *1963 - Oak Park, IL , High Point, North Carolina...
Team Coach.
In the fall of 2006, his health declined. After a three year battle with prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
, Blair died on the morning of November 8, 2006.
Team Championships
- 1988 US Open Men’s Team Champions Results
- 1989 US Men’s Team National Champions Results
- 57 Arkansas State Age Group Championships
- 10 time Region VIII Team Champions
Individual Achievements
- 6 US National Champions
- 1 US Open National Champion
- 12 Junior National Champions
- 2 Olympic Festival Gold Medalists
- 35 National Age Group Champions
- 17 National Age Group Records
- 7 Masters National Champions
- 1 Pan American Silver Medalist
- 25 World Ranked Swimmers
- 25 Olympic Trials Qualifiers
- 4 Pan Pacific Team Members
- 6 Olympic Swimmers
- 1 World Team Silver Medalist
- 1 Olympic Gold Medalist