Conqu’ring Heroes: U-M Hall of Honor Inductee Richardson Discusses Culture, Title IX
11/3/2022 10:31:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving
By Mishal Charania
Every morning after former University of Michigan women's swimming and diving coach Jim Richardson was done with practice, he took a run around Ann Arbor, visiting sites like Gallup Park and Nichols Arboretum. Practice ran from 6-8 a.m. and by 8:30 a.m., he and former Michigan men's swimming and diving coach Jon Urbanchek were out on their run.
"We probably got more done during those runs because we weren't interrupted," said Richardson. "We didn't have to work on emails or answer phone calls and it gave us a good long time to talk about how things were going, training, what was coming up. We just had a great relationship that way."
Richardson joined this week's episode of Conqu'ring Heroes to discuss becoming a member of the 2022 U-M Athletics Hall of Honor, his time at Michigan, Title IX and the culture he helped to create within the swim and dive program during his tenure.
Richardson will be inducted into the University of Michigan Athletics Hall of Fame -- joining Urbanchek, who was inducted in 2009, as well as former University of Michigan swim and dive coach and athlete Dick Kimball, inducted in 1985. He served as the fourth head coach of the women's program and devoted his time for 27 seasons.
"Obviously when recruiting you want fast people but you want people who are on the same page when it comes to values, work ethic, being team-oriented, being serious students and doing well in the classroom," said Richardson. "The most important thing I think is finding people who fit the culture that you want to create within the greater culture of the university."
According to Richardson, swimming has a history of being accepting of female and male athletes. During his time as coach, he encouraged and created opportunities for the men's and women's teams to practice and train with each other.
"I think the biggest changes I saw was in support and recognition of the women's team along with other sports, particularly Olympic sports, as they gained a lot more support through the years," said Richardson. "The kinds of changes that have happened have been more societal and obviously Title IX had a lot to do with the application of resources and treating women's sports with greater respect."
His decades-long commitment to Michigan athletics allowed him to work with some of the best swim and dive athletes, many of whom went on to compete professionally or in the Olympics.
"I felt like gosh, if we could have a swim team that ended up nationally ranked as well as how good Michigan was academically we would be doing really really well but that was kind of a dream," said Richardson. "What you focus on day in and day out is trying to figure out the best thing to do to help your swimmers improve. On the recruiting side again, trying to find people who really fit your culture, who belong in Michigan, and will appreciate the opportunities that Michigan offers both in the pool and especially out."
