For the Record: 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 OLYMPIC
GAMES: Men’s Assistant Coach; 1994, 1998 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS:
Men’s Head Coach; Coach of 28 OLYMPIC SWIMMERS:
winning 5 gold, 6 silver and 4 bronze medals; 1983, 1987, 2003 PAN
AMERICAN GAMES: Coach; 22 YEARS COACH UNIVERSITY OF
MICHIGAN: 1 NCAA National Team Championship;
Wherever he goes, honors follow him.
As a coach, his swimmers hold him in
high regard and his opponents treat him
with respect. History has looked kindly
on this man who has spent almost 50
years pacing the pool deck developing
and training the world’s best swimmers –
Jon Urbanchek “rules”.
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A Hungarian immigrant, Urbanchek enrolled at the University of Michigan
where he competed on the University’s three National Championship swimming
teams from 1958-1962. He moved from the water to the deck in 1963 as the
swimming and water polo coach at Anaheim High School for 16 years. He then
spent another five years at Long Beach State University before returning to
Michigan in 1982. For the next 22 years, Urbanchek developed Olympic medalists,
world champions and world record holders. His Olympic medalists include:
Mike Barrowman (1992), Gustavo Borges (1992 and 2000), Tom Dolan (1992
and 1996), Dan Ketchum (2004), Brett Lang (1988), Tom Malchow (1996 and 2000), Eric Namesnik (1992 and
1996), Chris Thompson (2000), Peter Vanderkaay (2004) and Marcel Wouda (2000).
Urbanchek coached 34 Olympians to seven gold, six silver
and four bronze medals in five Olympic Games that
included four world record holders. Sixteen of
Urbanchek swimmers earned medals at the World
Championships of 1991, 1994, and 1998. He served as
the Head Coach of the World Championship Teams in
1994 and 1998, U.S. Olympic Team Assistant Coach five
times from 1988 to 2004, the 1986 and 1990 World
Championship Team Assistant Coach and six-time coach
of the Pan American and Pan Pacific Games Teams. Jon
won the 1995 NCAA National Team Championship, has
been twice named ASCA Coach of the Year and has had
35 NCAA individual National Champions.
