McNally, James 2005-09-07
James McNally talks about his early experience swimming in high school and later in the navy, as well as his college education and the University of Oklahoma’s influence on his later career. Lastly, he discusses his career starting from a coach in Boy’s Club and his contribution to the Texas Tech competitive swimming program, its development and demise.
General Interview Information
Interviewee Name James McNally
Additional Parties Recorded:
Date: September 07, 2005
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Interviewer: David Marshall
Length: 03:51:21
Abstract
Background information; Born in Austin, Minnesota 1927; Father was an athlete; Taught him how to swim; River swimming; Junior high school; Not selected for basketball and football; Met the swimming coach; Joined the swimming team; Coach’s desire of winning a state championship; Excellent swimmers in high school; Won state championship in 10th grade; Went to the military service in 1946; High school swimming coach’s coaching style; Techniques adopted from high school swimming coach; Adapted skills in track; Information-gathering skills; Events and swimming strokes in high school period; Size of the pool; 150 yard medley; Confusions in the record; Breaststroke and butterfly; Standard strokes; Different lengths in high school; No uniformity of pools; Three pools in West Texas; Olympic size pool; Reason for Tech pool’s design; Issue of metric system and standard system in track; Training in Jacksonville, Florida; Compared differences among coaches; College swimming coach; Yale’s swimming coach; Original application of electronic timing; Ways to increase swimming speed; Goggles did not exist; Shaving; Baby oil; Girls who shaved head for swimming; Goggles became used; Pools in Minnesota; Two basement pools in Minnesota; Advantages of basement pool; University of Minnesota pool; Outdoor pool; Strength of swimming; Distance swimming; 800 meter swimming; Try-out for Olympics; Navy swimming team; Coaching in military service; Interval training of swimming; Interval training developed; Intervals and flat out training; Sprint and long distance; Term in the Navy; Went in for the first time 1945; Duties in Navy; WWII Victory soon after beginning of the service; Duties on an aircraft carrier; Stayed in Navy until 1952; Stationed at San Diego Naval Base; Not aware of the potential of the war; Underwater atomic bomb test; Transferred to Chihuahua; University of Oklahoma; First impression of OU; Stipend in college; Met swimming coach at OU; Benefits of starting college; Attended classes at OU; Decision to go to University of Oklahoma; Training facility at OU; Swam only one year in college; First year of college; Improved studying skills in “Learn How to Study” program; Physical education program; Got degree in physical education; Football coach at University of Oklahoma; Split team of football; Help from coach for the trip to Lubbock; Criteria of evaluating a person; Virtues of the coaches he met; Graduated college in 1952; After college; Sent out applications to many high schools; One visit to a high school in Oklahoma; Lubbock Boys’ Club; Met an alumni in the same club; Accepted the job offer in Lubbock; Started competitive swimming program; Size of Lubbock at the time; Focused on swimming program; Other duties in Boys’ Club; Transition from Boys’ Club to Texas Tech; Incidents that caused transition; Physical education program at Texas Tech; Founders of Texas Tech physical education program; Invited by Texas Tech swimming training program; Started teaching swimming classes to college students; Learned how to teach college students to swim; Got the chance to coach the college team; Plan for a competitive pool at Texas Tech; Pool built in 1957; Became the staff of the program at Texas Tech; Development of program at Texas Tech; Motivating factors in program growth; Stimulated by football program; Started competing with other teams in the Southwest Conference; Big time for Texas Tech; Never thought about leaving Texas Tech; Became the head swimming coach of Texas Tech in the 1959-60 season; Beginning of the swim team; Found out about his promotion from SMU director; First couple of races; Swam against Texas, Texas A&M and SMU; Beginnings of the other swim teams in the Southwest Conference; Good swimmers who were recruited; Scholarships of the program; Early members of the swimming team; Strategy of recruitment; Academic grades of the swimmers; Tuition payment of the swimmers; Comparison with other schools in the conference; Dining problems; Weight training; Training schedule of the swimming team; Morning work out; Middle distance work out; Mileage-running’s impact on swimming; Ways of weight training; Universal gym; Weight training for Olympic swimmers; Team travel; Coaching style and recruitment; Learned from former coaches; Encouragement for swimming; Philip Simpkins from Lamar High School, Houston; Got one scholarship for Philip; Philip became Tech’s first All-American swimmer; Other outstanding swimmers recruited; Jesse Marsh from San Angelo; Robert Graham from Tyler; Letter from Robert’s mother; Robert beat many pool records in freshmen year; A race at New Mexico University; NCAA game in Michigan State; Developing of the swimming program; Robert’s entry to Tech Hall of Fame; Tennessee’s swimming program; Tech moved up to 3rd place in the Southwest Conference; Never beat SMU; Beat Texas in some races; Air Force Academy and Denver University; Academic performance and travel of the swim team; Rules for swim team members; Schedule of swimming competition; Traveling in Colorado; Swimming in guest venue; Skiing experiences in Colorado; Swimming coach at Arkansas; Benefits of travelling; Friend’s career; SMU’s swimming competition; Swim team in athletic department; Difficulty in schedule; Different treatment than other athletes; Second-class citizen in athletic dining hall; Viewpoint on fraternity; Double T Association; Minorities in swimming; Minority students in the program; Reason for little participation of minority students; First Mexican American student on the swim team; Retirement; Retired at the end of 1989 season; Only retired from coaching; Worked as a coach for 26 years; Stayed at Tech until 1993; Thoughts on quitting the program; Talked with the athletic department about the reason for quitting; Rehabilitating the pool and equipment; Directors were disappointed by the decision; Reason for dropping the program; Women’s athletic department; Cost to restart the program; Donations from the swimmers; Other travel experience; Travelling on the west coast; USC’s swimming facility; Seeing different things; California and Yale; Fish restaurant in Houston; Sightseeing at the Astrodome; Son’s chance to see Air Force Academy; Other people who could provide information for the program; 60 former members showed up at last reunion; Recalled one journey to New Mexico.
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