Considered one of the greatest diving coaches to walk the pool deck, Hobie Billingsley served as diving coach at Indiana University from 1959 to 1989. During his time at Indiana, the Hoosiers Swimming and Diving Team won 20 Big Ten Conference and six NCAA championships, and Billingsley’s divers won 27 Big Ten and 16 NCAA individual championships.
Divers under his tutelage won over 115 national championships, three Olympic and four Pan Am gold medals, and five world championships. He coached such standout performers as Cynthia Potter, Ken Sitzberger, Lesley Bush, Rick Gilbert, Jim Henry and Mark Lenzi.
Billingsley, who was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1983, founded the World Diving Coaches Association in 1968 and the American Diving Coaches Association (now known as the Professional Diving Coaches Association) in 1971.
He has authored two books on springboard and platform diving, “Diving Illustrated” and “A Comprehensive View of Competitive Diving,” and he produced and is profiled in the award-winning documentary Hobie’s Heroes – 25th Anniversary Edition.
Coaching Highlights
- United States Olympic Diving Team Coach (1968, 1972)
- Austrian Olympic Diving Coach (1968, 1980)
- Danish Olympic Team Coach (1980)
- Pan American Team Coach (1959)
- U.S. Diving Coach of the Year (1964–1970)
- NCAA Coach of the Year (1982)
Athletic Highlights
- NCAA One-Meter and Three-Meter Champion (1945)
