Swim Club History
Oceanus, Cardinal Community Swim Clubs: A Short History

OSC Oceanus Swim Club was organized in 1975 by a group of interested swim parents and coaches. This took place in the kitchen around a comfortable table, and with sleeves rolled up. People present included Jim Watkins, Joe Allardt, "Doc" Beyert, Bob Chico, and Howard Bunch. We also leaned heavily on James "Doc" Councilmen for guidance and advice. At that time the governing body for swimming was the AAU.

Our purpose was to provide a program which would benefit any athlete who wanted a structured program with quality coaching and opportunity to excel at their own pace. Parent participation and energy in the program was directed towards providing program support needed by the coaching staff to attain team goals.

The Oceanus program was directed by Muncie North coach Howard Bunch at Muncie North, and the club initially consisted of age group, junior high and senior high swimmers from all around the area, including Central, New Castle, and Richmond. The program proved very successful. Several individual State Champions resulted, as well as high team finishes. Parent strongly supported the program and the coaches. Egos were not an issue in the early, formative days of our program.

An outdoor pool was not available for summer training at the time, and we were able to obtain the use of the Water Bowl for long course training. You probably realize there is neither "pool" nor "lanes" at the Water Bowl. Bob Chico designed and built "floating" removable bulkheads and laid out a 50 meter, 4 lane course at the Water Bowl. Jim Watkins graciously donated the use of the workshop at Elmridge Cemetery where we prefabricated the four land steel framed bulkheads. The materials came from several local contractors. We cut, welded, and painted them and transported them to the Water Bowl (imagine looking at the cemetery at night and seeing strange, flashing lights coming from nowhere? From the welding of course). Coach Bunch and several swimmers drove pipes into the lake bed to act as anchors (ever tried to drive pipes from a rowboat?). We traded off the remainder of our steel to Dick Thornburg for the use of his grain truck to transport the bulkheads to the Water Bowl, where they were installed and anchored, using several 55 gallon drums for floatation.

The effort and long course training paid off handsomely for our programs here in Muncie. Bother Muncie North and Central went on the have several outstanding high school seasons.

Oceanus Coaching Alumni includes many prominent people:
John Troup, PhD Former Head of USS programs, Colorado Springs, and �father� of the Swim Flume

Rich Sharp, PhD Iowa State University, Sports Physiology, Editor and publisher of Swimming Digest

Mike Plyley, PhD University of Toronto, Canada; Advisor to Canadian Olympic Swim Committee

Al Anderson, Head Coach, West Palm (USS Club)

Howdy Bunch, Schaumburg, IL, Coach and now successful businessman

Don Wynant, Tri-athlete, college coach and exercise physiologist

James Gendron, Ontario Systems, Coach and now Computer Systems Consultant

Dave Boggs, Seymour, IN, High School as well as USS Coach

Doug Coers, Atlanta, GA, Dynamo Swim Club, Senior Team Coach

Club emphasis gradually changed. The short course season became the focal point for club swimming in Muncie. Maintenance problems caused the North pool to be down for one year for reconstruction. During that year, the club operated at a lower level because alternate pools had to be used, and the inconvenience and lack of pool time bothered some. During this period the Muncie North swim teams practiced from 5-7 AM in old Ball Pool (at Ball State). Most dual meets became away meets.

After the reconstruction of the North pool was complete and the water was once again available, a decision was made to assume the name of Cardinal Community Swim Club and drop the Oceanus name. Cardinal was reorganized with a Board of Directors and as a Coach oriented club. The Club then went thru several board and by-law changes and evolved to its present method of operations.

Cardinal Community Swim Club � CARD Cardinal was originally organized and registered as a USS Club by Dave Costill, Bob Thomas, and Bob Chico in 1983, strictly as a summer club at Tuhey Pool. The purpose was to provide an opportunity and "blanket" for any swimmer in the community to train outdoor in a 50 meter pool. Training was available in the morning and early evening for swimmer from any segment of the community. Area high school, college and some age group swimmer participated in the program. Those who did participate were successfully prepared fro their fall and winter programs. The Cardinal Board consisted of the organizers who were also the coaches; there was no parent organization.