Robert E. Fitch (July 28, 1919 – April 15, 2003) was an American athlete and coach. He broke the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...

in 1946 with a mark of 54.93 m (180 ft in). He developed a rotational technique referred to as the "Minnesota Whip" and delivered a masters thesis on the subject. His training mate

Fortune Gordien Fortune Everett Gordien (September 9, 1922 – April 10, 1990) was an American discus thrower and shot putter who set four world records in the discus throw. He competed in this event at the 1948, 1952 and 1956 Olympics and placed third, fourth ...

went on to break world records and win Olympic medals. Fitch was a two-time

American champion American Champion Aircraft Corporation, is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft headquartered at the Rochester, Wisconsin airport. Founded in 1988 on the acquisition of the Champ, Citabria, Scout, and Decathlon, it has been producing replac ...

in the discus (1942 and 1946) and was the winner of the 1942

NCAA Championships 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 and ...

. He was also part of the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

championship-winning college football. He later became

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

coach for

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

and developed the team into a top level NCAA side, winning six

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 ...

titles during his tenure from 1957 to 1989 – a record for an Indiana coach.

Career

Born in

Audubon, Iowa Audubon is a city and the county seat in Audubon County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,053 in the 2020 census, a decline from 2,382 in the 2000 census. History The city is named for John James Audubon the world-famous ornithologist, ...

, Fitch was the son of a veterinarian and spent the first ten years of his life in Audubon before moving with his family to

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. He went on to study at the

. He was part of the college football team as an

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

for the Minnesota Golden Gophers at a time when the team ranked first in the nation and overseen by coach Bernie Bierman. Greater success came in the

with the track and field team.Bob Fitch
Minnesota Golden Gophers. Retrieved on November 8, 2014. He won the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships – Men's discus throw, NCAA Championship title in 1942 – Minnesota's first such champion. He also won the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, AAU national championship meet that year. After graduating college, he was drafted in the seventh round of the 1942 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins, but chose not to pursue professional football. After graduating, he served in the United States Coast Guard for several years and was stationed United States Coast Guard Academy, Coast Guard Academy, New London, Connecticut in 1942 as a Boatswain's mate (United States Coast Guard), chief boatswain's mate. While at the Coast Guard Academy, he helped coach the football team. While stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune as a coast guardsman, he was selected by the Associated Press as an end on the 1943 All-American Service team. He was discharged in the fall of 1945 as a chief specialist after 39 months of service. After his military service, he then returned to education at Minnesota, starting a master's degree in physiology. It was in this second stint at the university that his discus throwing reached its peak. Under the guidance of Jim Kelly (coach), Jim Kelly, Minnesota's track coach, he began experimenting with technique to find a better way of throwing the discus. Kelly credited Fitch with inventing a method of throwing called the "Minnesota Whip", which is now the accepted style worldwide. This was a development for the sport, which frequently still had rough earth in throwing circles. It was Fitch that mastered the technique first – on June 8, 1946, he threw a Men's discus throw world record progression, discus throw world record of 54.93 m (180 ft in), bettering the mark of Adolfo Consolini by more than half a meter. He secured the United States discus title for a second time that year.UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIPS (MEN 1943–)
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on November 8, 2014. Gordien went on to follow in Fitch's footsteps by winning the NCAA title, and had three straight wins at the competition from 1946 to 1948. Fitch was unable to start international competition – amateur athletes were self-funded at the time and he needed a job to liveWhite, Maury (June 26, 2005)
Bob Fitch, Audubon, 1991
''Des Moines Register''. Retrieved on November 8, 2014. – but Gordien went on to win the Pan American Games title in 1955 and two Olympic Games medals in 1948 and 1956. The younger Gordien became the more decorated of the two, winning seven national titles between 1947 and 1954, and broke the world record on four occasions, his best being in 1953. Working with Gordien while continuing his studies, Fitch produced his masters thesis ''Mechanical analysis of the discus throw'' in 1951. He also served as an assistant college football coach for

. He asked the Indiana athletic director if he could stop coaching to focus on his doctoral studies. The director instead offered him a position to reorganise the school's golf course, which was becoming a financial drain. Fitch accepted the position, becoming the Indiana Hoosiers head coach for

in the process. As the head of Hoosiers golf, he transformed both the team and turned the course into a profitable venture. He led the Hoosiers to the

runner-up spot in 1958 and they won the title for the first time in 1962, then again in 1968. The team topped the Big Ten championships four times in the 1970s. On top of his six conference titles, he also led the Hoosiers to the runner-up spot ten times between 1958 and 1984. He took the previously undecorated Hoosiers into NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships competition on twelve occasions, with the team's best placing being sixth in 1974.Hoosier Athletics Mourns Loss of Former Coach
. Indiana Hoosiers (May 9, 2009). Retrieved on November 8, 2014. Despite strong results in sporting achievements, Fitch emphasised academics first and foremost for student-athletes. His charges remembered Fitch pushing them hard both physically and academically, in the style of his previous coach Bernie Bierman. After his retirement in 1989, Fitch later reflected "I'm mighty proud that for 10 straight years my golf team led all athletic teams on campus in grade-point average and only three players didn't graduate in the 34 years I coached golf". His 32 years as Hoosiers golf head coach made him the longest-tenured coach in Indiana University history. On August 29, 1942, Fitch married Helen Dichensheets.:File:Bob Fitch marriage 1942.jpg He died on April 5, 2003, in Bloomington, Indiana.

Head coaching record

Football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitch, Bob 1919 births 2003 deaths American male discus throwers American football ends Augustana (South Dakota) Vikings football coaches Camp Lejeune Marines football players Indiana Hoosiers football coaches Iowa Hawkeyes football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football players College golf coaches in the United States Minnesota Golden Gophers men's track and field athletes World record setters in athletics (track and field) United States Coast Guard non-commissioned officers People from Audubon, Iowa Track and field athletes from Indiana American military sports coaches United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II