Ron O'Brien is an American

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

coach and author. O'Brien has coached divers who have successfully placed gold in

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

and collegiate competitions. O'Brien has published several how-to books related to diving.

Athletic career

O’Brien began his athletic career as a diver at the YMCA of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Once in college at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, he earned six varsity letters in

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

and diving. In diving he went on to become

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

national champion on 1 meter springboard (1959) and AAU national champion on 3 meter springboard (1961).O'Brien, Ronald F., and Ronald F. O'Brien. "Ron O'Brien Bio." Springboard & Platform Diving. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2003. Print. After his college career, he worked as an performer in a professional water stunt show alongside fellow dive coach Dick Kimball. In 1960, O'Brien placed third in the US diving Olympic trials, missing the top two qualification slots.

Coaching career

After his time as an athlete ended, O'Brien began coaching. Over the years, he has coached divers of all skill levels resulting in over 350 medals in elite dive meets all over the world. He also has been a USA Olympic coach at 8 Olympic Games from 1968 to 1996. In total, the Olympians coached by O’Brien have won five gold, three silver, and four bronze

medals A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

.O'Brien, Ronald F. Ron O'Brien's Diving for Gold. Champaign, IL: Leisure, 1992. Print O'Brien holds the record for producing at least one national champion in the most consecutive years, with a 23-year streak from 1973 to 1995. In 1982, O'Brien's California divers took all four of the available gold medals at the world championships. O'Brien created a website, diverstocollege.com, which purports to help high school divers get recruited.

Honors and awards

O'Brien has been the recipient of the "Outstanding Senior US Diving Coach Award" 14 times. He is the only aquatic coach in the US Olympic Hall of Fame. He has also entered the Halls of Fame for the Ohio State Athletics and The International Swimming and Pennsylvania Sports Halls of Fame. Because of his history as both an athlete and coach at Ohio State, the school’s diving well was named in his honor.

Publications

Diving My Way

Diving My Way is an instructional diving video which breaks down the mechanics of diving using

slow motion Slow motion (commonly abbreviated as slo-mo or slow-mo) is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century. This can be accomplished through the use o ...

and picture-by-picture effects. The video is broken down into the categories: Body Alignment, Board Work, Basic Dives, Entries, Somersaulting, Twisting, and Platform Diving.

Ron O'Brien's Diving for Gold

Diving for Gold breaks down the mechanics of each dive on 1 meter, 3 meter, and platform. The book also explains "O'Brien's winning formula for constructing the forward approach." Along with discussing the basic mechanics of diving, the book talks about O'Brien's philosophy for how divers should mentally approach diving.

Retirement

After retiring from coaching in 1996, O'Brien became the national technical director for

USA Diving USA Diving, Inc. is the national governing body of diving in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and is a member of United States Aquatic Sports Inc., the United States' member of FINA (the International Swimmin ...

. He currently lives in Islamorada, Florida with his wife.

References

External links

Ron O'Brien
at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Ron American Olympic coaches American diving coaches Ohio State Buckeyes men's gymnasts Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Ohio State Buckeyes men's divers