Courtesy: Steve Barnicoat
Richard “Doc” Ludemann, a swim coach for over 30 years, died on January 7 after a battle with cancer.. He was 71 years old.
Ludemann had a long history with swimming from coast to coast.
Among his appointments most recently was as the head coach at Assumption College for a brief stint beginning in 2019 when the program was left coachless.
Ludemann has served a distance coach and head coach at the University of Bridgeport; head coach of the women’s varsity and men’s club team at Sacred Heart University; assistant coach for the women’s and men’s teams at Yale University; and assistant coach at UCLA.
He also had a long career in club and high school coaching, including as head director of competitive aquatics and head coach at the New Canaan (CT) Y Aquatic Club; associate coach at the Westport (CT) YMCA; head coach of the Country Club of New Canaan; and head coach of the Stamford High School (CT) Girls Varsity swim team.
He also served as conditioning consultant for the USA and Canada National Water Polo teams.
Erin McKay, the mother of the reigning Northeast 10 Swimmer of the Week Caroline McKay, posted on Facebook this week a memory of how coach Ludemann helped her daughter fall in love with swimming again.
“It was a sad week for the Hounds as we learned of the passing of Richard ‘Doc’ Ludemann. When Assumption had no coach last year, he stepped in as interim head coach and made sure our swimmers had a strong season. Caroline was making her way back to the pool, slowly adding 15 minutes of training at a time every couple of weeks, and Doc motivated her to swim stronger and faster and to fuel her body. We believe he was an integral piece of her recovery. His tough love approach gave her the motivation, and his sense of humor kept her smiling. Doc gave Caroline back the joy of competing that started to fade. Our hearts go out to all of Doc’s former swimmers and his family. We only got to know him for a short period of time, but we feel so lucky that he was part of Caroline’s journey. Rest in Peace, Coach.”
A memorial service for Ludemann will be held at St Aloysius Church in New Canaan, Connecticut on Saturday, February 3 at 12:30PM. A reception will follow.
Rich was a very dear friend. I am most saddened to learn of his passing. A special guy with a BIG heart.