Hall of Fame Swim Coach Don Lamont Dies

Don LaMont, a coach of 7 Olympic medalists, died on Wednesday, December 5th after suffering a ‘massive stroke’ in May.

A number of former coaches and athletes of Lamont took to social media to express their condolences for the loss.

A GoFundMe page to support his wife has been set up here.

The passing of coaching legend and friend Don LaMon T yesterday reinforces what is important in life. Don positively…

Posted by Rich Rogers on Thursday, December 6, 2018

It makes me so sad to hear of your passing coach Don. You were truly a great man and saw potential in me that I hadn't…

Posted by Stephanie Jablon on Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Lamont was inducted into the ASCA Hall of Fame in 2008 in recognition of a long career that spanned over 60 years. He made his name coaching for 25 years at USC alongside Peter Daland, where he earned a spot in the Los Angeles County Hall of Fame, as head coach at the Desert Storm Swim Club in Las Vegas, and at El Monte Swim Club, where a number of legendary swimmers of the 70s and 80s got their start. He coached a total of 17 All-Americans and 13 Olympians in his career, and served as a Team USA coach in New Zealand, Italy, France, Russia, West Germany, and Japan. Among the names that headline his long resume are swimming Hall of Famers Sandy Neilson-Bell, a 3-time Olympic gold medalist at the 1972 Games in Munich and eventual Masters Swimming legend; 8-time Olympic medalist Shirley Babashoff while at USC; Sippy Woodhead during her time at USC; and 4-time Olympic medalist Jill Sterkel.

Don’s son, Ken, is currently the associate head coach at Irvine Novaquatics.

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Trojan
5 years ago

I really liked Don. Sad to hear he’s gone

Bevo
5 years ago

An inspiration to coaches everywhere.

Larry Liebowitz
Reply to  Bevo
5 years ago

He was an inspiration to be around and a great friend. His smile and caring attitude will be missed by me and I am sure a lot of swimmers

Rick Paine
5 years ago

One of the really good guys

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Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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