Jack Cody

Jack Cody (April 1 1885–April 11 1963)cite web|url=http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?lastname=Cody&firstname=Jack&death=1963|title=Social Security Death Index Search Results|accessdate=2007-12-19] was an American swimming coach in Oregon. He coached at the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland, Oregon for more than 30 years, winning 3 national championships and producing 15 Olympic swimmers.

Early career

A diver, Cody came to the Multnomah Athletic Club in 1913 and his coaching brought national prominence to Constance Meyer. He was the first coach of Norman Ross, a swimming world record setter and multiple gold medal winner at the 1920 Summer Olympics. [Ross at top of Mermen.; Rated Highest by Experts Because of Work at Meet. "The New York Times", July 27 1919. p. 21.] In those same Olympics, his diving students Thelma Payne, Hap Kuehn, and Louis Balbach all medaled in diving.cite web|url=http://www.ishof.org/honorees/70/70jcody.html|title=Jack Cody|publisher=International Swimming Hall of Fame|accessdate=2007-10-08] [Buker, Paul. MAC Club's history rich in diving glory. "The Oregonian", April 20 1990.]

"Cody's Kids"

His greatest fame came from 1939 to 1949 with the emergence of a group of his students who came to be known as "Cody's Kids": Nancy Merki, Brenda Helser, Suzanne Zimmerman, Joyce Macrae, and Mary Anne Hansen, who dominated U.S. girls amateur swimming, winning three national Amateur Athletic Union swimming titles (in 1943, 1944, and 1949),cite news|url=http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F60B10F8345D167B93C0A8178FD85F478485F9|title=Multnomah Team of Four Gains U.S. Swimming Title as W.S.A. Places Third|date=April 12 1943|work=New York Times|accessdate=2008-01-16] cite news|url=http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F40A11F93A58157A93C5A8178FD85F408485F9|title=Swim Title Goes to Miss Sinclair|date=April 17 1944|work=New York Times|accessdate=2008-01-16] cite news|url=http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F20614FE3B58177B93C7AB178FD85F4D8485F9|title=Miss Olson First in 3-Meter Diving|date=April 25 1949|work=New York Times|accessdate=2008-01-16] 42 individual championships, and 16 relay championships, setting numerous records along the way.cite news|title=Swimmers Reunited at Coach's Induction into State Sports Hall|last=Schneidermann|first=Floyd|date=August 19, 1990|work=The Oregonian]

The cancellation of the 1940 and 1944 Summer Olympics due to World War II prevented the swimmers from having a chance to appear in the Olympics at their peak of their careers, though Zimmerman and Helser did win medals in the 1948 games.

Legacy

Cody retired from the MAC in 1949 and moved to Los Angeles, where he continued teaching and coaching. He died in Santa Monica, California on April 11 1963. He is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame,cite web|url=http://www.oregonsportshall.org/inductee/roll/swimDive.htm|publisher=Oregon Sports Hall of Fame|title=Inductees: Swimming & Diving|accessdate=2008-01-14] and the American Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame.cite web|url=http://www.swimmingcoach.org/hof/coaches/cody.swf|title=Jack Cody|publisher=American Swim Coaches Association|accessdate=2008-01-14]

References