Georgia Tech is renaming their world famous aquatic center in honor of Coach James Herbert “Herb” McAuley. An alumnus of the university recently made a donation to the university and was able to rename the pool in Coach McAuley’s honor. He is also donating new high-tech scoreboards for the 2016 NCAA D1 Swimming and Diving Championships.
McAuley coached at Georgia Tech for 40 years, 23 of which he served as the head coach. Coach McAuley was inducted into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame in 1982 and inducted in the Georgia Aquatic Hall of Fame in 2012 at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Georgia Tech’s Aquatic Center will soon be known as the McAuley Aquatic Center.
Richard L. Bergmark, a 1975 industrial management graduate, is the man who made it possible. One portion of the donation is an outright gift to fund two new high-tech scoreboards. The second part consists of a multi-year pledge creating an endowment in support of facility maintenance, improvements, and swimming programs. The final component is an irrevocable estate provision that will one day ensure that the endowment is fully funded.
“This is a fantastic way to give recognition to Coach McAuley,” Bergmark said. “He was a great coach, a mentor, a generous person, and a Tech alumnus himself. He developed so many swimmers, many of whom I had the great fortune of meeting, competing with, and developing wonderful associations with while at Tech.”
McAuley did something else that Bergmark has never forgotten, by helping him secure an out-of-state scholarship. “It was his focus on the ‘student’ part of ‘student-athlete’ that I will forever be grateful for, because that is what enabled me to graduate from Tech,” he said.
After graduating, Bergmark achieved success in the petroleum industry. He currently serves as the chief financial officer of Core Laboratories, after having risen through the ranks at Western Atlas International, a leading provider of oilfield services and reservoir information technologies.
Georgia Tech’s pool was built for the 1996 Olympics and enclosed after the end of the Games for the university.
My Great Uncle Herb was a great man and great coach. A couple years ago when he was inducted into the Georgia Aquatic Hall of Fame alongside UGA great Jack Bauerle, Uncle Herb had a great showing of support present from his former Jacket swimmers. He changed so many lives with swimming including mine.
We lost my Uncle Herb last Thanksgiving and I can think of no better way to remember his legacy than through the sport of swimming and at the school he loved! #THWG
Alum makes a ton of money during a successful career, makes a huge contribution and gets the pool named after……his coach?
That’s great! So many people would be ego driven to get their own name on it. Kudos!