Leonide Alfred "Buddy" Baarcke, Jr. (September 23, 1931 – March 10, 2017) was an American competitive swimmer,

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 ...

medalist and swimming coach.

Birth

Leonide Baarcke was born on September 23, 1931.

Career

Swimming

In 1949, Baarcke graduated from Suwanee Military Academy where he originally swam competitively, and then he went to study at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, where he achieved All American status in the backstroke and new

butterfly stroke The butterfly (colloquially shortened to fly) is a List of swimming styles, swimming stroke swum on the chest, with both arms moving symmetrically, accompanied by the butterfly kick (also known as the "dolphin kick"). While other styles like ...

. He graduated in 1953. While at the University of North Carolina, Baarcke also began his coaching career, where "he was very motivational and created enthusiasm". Baarcke was then drafted into the military for two years, but continued to swim competitively. At the 1954 National AAU Indoor Swimming Championships, he showed William Yorzyk and his coach Charles Silvia the

for the first time.Barney, David E., and Robert K. Barney.
A long night's journey into day: the Odyssey of the butterfly stroke in international swimming.
''Proceedings: International Symposium for Olympic Research'', Oct. 2006, pp. 65+. ''Gale Academic OneFile'', link.gale.com/apps/doc/A176818711/AONE?u=googlescholar&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=535b6e53. Accessed 12 Dec. 2023. Yorzyk went on to be an Olympic gold medalist in the 200 metres butterfly event. Also in 1954, he was the first American to set a world record for the butterfly stroke, in the 100 yards butterfly. Baarcke was the first American to go under 1 minute in the 100 yards in three separate strokes (freestyle, butterfly and backstroke). Leading up to the

1955 Pan American Games The 1955 Pan American Games opened on March 12, 1955, in the University Stadium (now Olympic Stadium) in Mexico City, Mexico, in front of a capacity crowd of 100,000 spectators. A total number of 2,583 athletes from 22 nations marched in review ...

, Baarcke trained with the Tar Heel swimmers and divers, and at the event, Baarcke placed third in the 100 metres backstroke event, and first in the 4x100 metres medley relay with his team.

Swim coaching

Baarcke became a club coach and assistant college coach for 10 years, serving at the University of North Carolina while he was also a post-graduate student in 1954, 1957 and 1958, and the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

later. He continued swimming club coaching for another 40 years. During his coaching career, Baarcke coached 1 Olympic gold medalist, many Olympic medalists and 9 world ranked swimmers. In September 2016, Baarcke was inducted to the American Swim Coaches Association's coaching Hall of Fame, and is also in the North Carolina Swimming Hall of Fame.

Death

Leonide Baarcke died on 10 March 2017, aged 85.

References