Indiana University Athletics
Where Are They Now? - David Tanner
12/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Dec. 15, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Over the 2005-06 campaign, IUHOOSIERS.com will catch up with former Indiana swimmers and divers to see where life has taken them after graduating from IU. David Tanner, who swam for IU from 1970-72, took the time to fill in IUHOOSIERS.com on his life since graduation.
What have you been doing since graduating from Indiana University?
I graduated in 1972, served as Doc Counsilman's assistant for two years, then coached an age-group team for four years in Madrid, Spain. I coached a year in Evansville, then came back to Bloomington to do a master's degree in computer science. I've been here ever since, as student, computer programmer, teacher, author, coach, researcher and unemployed bum. I've been involved with several endurance sporting events (Race Across AMerica (RAAM), Ironman, Western States 100, Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, Berkebeiner, Mt. McKinley and adventure racing). I returned to school in 1989 for another master's in exercise physiology and a PhD in human performance. I'm now a research associate for the Counsilman Center for the Science of Swimming. For the past eight years I have been coaching the boy's swim team at Bloomington North. I try to teach them what it was like to be a part of the IU team under Doc and Hobie Billingsley. If I can make their swimming experience one tenth as enjoyable, educational and rewarding as my time on the IU team was, I will have succeeded.
What did you enjoy the most about your time as a Hoosier?
I always tell people that my six years on the team were the best years of my life (four as swimmer and two as coach). I learned more from Doc than all my classes combined. I loved every second of it: the practices, the meets, the training trips, the team meetings, my teammates and winning. But most of all, Doc, Hobie and Marge.
What piece of advice would you give to any current Hoosier?
Doc's favorite quote from Emerson: "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."
Would you say that being a student-athlete at Indiana University has helped you get to where you are today?
I'm not so sure about the student part because I've never really used my degrees to their fullest, but being a member of the swim team, the years with Doc and Marge, Hobie and all the guys from that era, shaped everything I've done since 1972. When the guys from the team get together, such as we did for Doc's Memorial in 2004, we all say the same thing: "Weren't we lucky!" As naive 18-year olds, we chose to come to Indiana to swim and got the best coach in the history of sport, the best program in the history of swimming and lived through the most successful years of the team. How could anyone be more blessed? Our lives were touched by the greatness and it never dies.
