Augustus Pingree "Gus" Stager, Jr. (February 18, 1923 – July 6, 2019) was an American swimmer and swimming coach. He was the swimming coach for the 1960 U.S. Olympic team and the swimming coach at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

for 25 years (1955–1979, 1981–1982). His Michigan swimming teams won four NCAA national championships in 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1961. He also led

Fordson High School Fordson High School is a secondary school located in Dearborn, Michigan, United States in Greater Detroit. It was completed in 1928 on a parcel of land which was then the village of Fordson, named for Henry Ford and his son Edsel Ford. It is a p ...

to Michigan state championships three consecutive years from 1952 to 1954. In total, he swam for or coached on five NCAA championship teams, three Michigan high school championship teams, and the 1960 U.S. Olympic team—all before his 35th birthday. In 1982, he was inducted into both the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

and the

University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor The University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs.

. He was also the coach of the U.S. swim team at the 1967

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

and the 1973 World Championship (1st place).

Early life

Stager was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Competitive swimmer

Stager began as a leading high school swimmer at

Newark Academy Newark Academy is a coeducational private day school located in Livingston, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in sixth through twelfth grades. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Col ...

in Newark, New Jersey. Competing on the U.S. Army team from the Philippines, Stager won the 400-meter free-style event at the "Pacific Army Olympics" held in

Manila, Philippines Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

in December 1945. He enrolled at the University of Michigan after being discharged from the Army and set a freshman American record in the 200 yard free style in February 1947 with a time of 2:12.3. He went on to become a three-time NCAA finalist, and named to the coaches' All-American team every year he swam for the Wolverines. In 1948, he swam for the Michigan Wolverines team that won the NCAA swimming championship.

Swimming coach at Dearborn Fordson and University of Michigan

After graduating from Michigan, Stager became the swimming coach at

Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States pe ...

where he led his team to three straight Class A state championships (1952, 1953, and 1954) and one national championship. In April 1954, he was named as Michigan's swimming coach when Matt Mann retired after 31 years. Stager was hired by athletic director

Fritz Crisler Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler (; January 12, 1899 – August 19, 1982) was an American college football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and d ...

, and remained Michigan's swimming coach for 25 years until 1979. Stager had a career record of 169-39-1 as Michigan's head coach. Stager's Michigan swimming teams finished first or second in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

23 times. He coached Michigan to four NCAA national championships in 1957, 1958, 1959, and 1961. After the 1957 team won the NCAA team championship at

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...

, an AP wirephoto of a fully clothed Stager being thrown into the pool by his Michigan team appeared in newspapers across the country. Stager's 1959 Wolverines' team was considered one of the strongest in NCAA history, as they scored an NCAA meet record 137½ points (41 points higher than the prior meet record set by Yale in 1954) -- more than the combined total of the second, third and fourth place teams. As coach at Michigan in the 1950s, Stager had conflict with Scottish swimmers Jack Wardrop and

Bert Wardrop Robert 'Bert' Wardrop (born 26 May 1932) is a male former swimmer who competed for Great Britain and Scotland. Career Wardrop was a standout swimmer at the University of Michigan under Head Coach Matthew Mann. He competed in the men's 100 me ...

. After being suspended by Stager for insubordination, the two quit the team despite having eligibility remaining. Speaking later of the conflict, Stager said: "A foreign boy just doesn't have the team loyalty that an American boy has. The foreign boys can't conceive, for example, that they should swim out of their stroke (a free-styler competing in the breast-stroke, for instance) so that the team will get points. We train our boys to play for the team and not themselves from the time they step on the playground. We do our best to instill team spirit in them from the start. In most cases, the foreign students think it's just a lot of junk. Most of them don't give a damn. They're opportunists. This doesn't go for all foreign athletes, but most of them are interested only in personal achievement. . . . I don't think there's another country in the world like the United States, where boys will sacrifice almost anything to see their team win." In 1981, Stager came out of retirement to coach the Wolverines from 1981 to 1982, replacing Bill Farley as coach.

Swimming coach for U.S. swimming team

After leading Michigan to three straight NCAA championships, Stager was named the head coach of the U.S. Olympic swimming team in 1960, the youngest coach ever to lead the U.S. Olympic team. In 1956, the Australian team took nine gold medals, and the Americans only two. At the 1960 games, the Australiant team was favored again, but the US team led by Stager took nine gold medals and fifteen total medals, topping the Australians' five gold and 13 total medals. In the 1960 games, Stager also coached Joan Spillane to the first gold medal win by a U-M woman. Stager also coached the U.S. team to victory in the first World Championships at

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

in 1973.

Career coaching record

References