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Bob Fitch

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For the photographer, seeBob Fitch (photographer).

Bob Fitch
Fitch in 1940
Personal information
Birth nameRobert Fitch
Born(1919-07-29)July 29, 1919
Audubon, Iowa,U.S.
DiedApril 15, 2003(2003-04-15)(aged 83)
Bloomington, Indiana,U.S.
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Sport
CountryUSA
SportAmerican football,discus throw,golf
Achievements and titles
PersonalbestDT – 54.93 m (1946)[1]

Robert E. Fitch(July 28, 1919 – April 15, 2003)[1]was an American athlete and coach. He broke theworld recordin thediscus throwin 1946 with a mark of 54.93 m (180 ft2+3⁄4in). He developed a rotational technique referred to as the "Minnesota Whip" and delivered a masters thesis on the subject. His training mateFortune Gordienwent on to break world records and win Olympic medals.

Fitch was a two-timeAmerican championin the discus (1942 and 1946) and was the winner of the 1942NCAA Championships.He was also part of theUniversity of Minnesotachampionship-winningcollege football.He later becamegolfcoach forIndiana Universityand developed the team into a top level NCAA side, winning sixBig Ten Conferencetitles during his tenure from 1957 to 1989 – a record for an Indiana coach.

Career

[edit]

Born inAudubon, Iowa,Fitch was the son of a veterinarian and spent the first ten years of his life in Audubon before moving with his family toMinneapolis.He went on to study at theUniversity of Minnesota.He was part of thecollege footballteam as anendfor theMinnesota Golden Gophersat a time when the team ranked first in the nation and overseen by coachBernie Bierman.Greater success came in thediscus throwwith thetrack and fieldteam.[2]He won theNCAA Championshiptitle in 1942 – Minnesota's first such champion.[3]He also won theAAU national championshipmeet that year.[4]After graduating college, he was drafted in the seventh round of the1942 NFL draftby theWashington Redskins,but chose not to pursue professional football.

After graduating, he served in theUnited States Coast Guardfor several years and was stationedCoast Guard Academy,New London, Connecticut in 1942 as achief boatswain's mate.[5]While at the Coast Guard Academy, he helped coach the football team.[6]While stationed atMarine Corps Base Camp Lejeuneas a coast guardsman, he was selected by the Associated Press as an end on the 1943 All-American Service team.[7]He was discharged in the fall of 1945 as a chief specialist after 39 months of service.[8]

After his military service, he then returned to education at Minnesota, starting amaster's degreeinphysiology.It was in this second stint at the university that his discus throwing reached its peak. Under the guidance ofJim Kelly,Minnesota's track coach, he began experimenting with technique to find a better way of throwing the discus. Kelly credited Fitch with inventing a method of throwing called the "Minnesota Whip", which is now the accepted style worldwide.[2]This was a development for the sport, which frequently still had rough earth in throwing circles. It was Fitch that mastered the technique first – on June 8, 1946, he threw adiscus throw world recordof 54.93 m (180 ft2+3⁄4in), bettering the mark ofAdolfo Consoliniby more than half a meter.[9][10]He secured the United States discus title for a second time that year.[11]

Gordien went on to follow in Fitch's footsteps by winning the NCAA title, and had three straight wins at the competition from 1946 to 1948. Fitch was unable to start international competition – amateur athletes were self-funded at the time and he needed a job to live[12]– but Gordien went on to win thePan American Gamestitle in 1955 and twoOlympic Gamesmedals in 1948 and 1956.[13]The younger Gordien became the more decorated of the two, winning seven national titles between 1947 and 1954,[11]and broke the world record on four occasions, his best being 59.28 m (194 ft5+3⁄4in) in 1953.[9]

Working with Gordien while continuing his studies, Fitch produced his masters thesisMechanical analysis of the discus throwin 1951.[14]He also served as an assistant college football coach forIndiana University.He asked the Indiana athletic director if he could stop coaching to focus on his doctoral studies. The director instead offered him a position to reorganise the school'sgolf course,which was becoming a financial drain. Fitch accepted the position, becoming theIndiana Hoosiershead coach forgolfin the process.[12]

As the head of Hoosiers golf, he transformed both the team and turned the course into a profitable venture.[12]He led the Hoosiers to theBig Ten Conferencerunner-up spot in 1958 and they won the title for the first time in 1962, then again in 1968. The team topped the Big Ten championships four times in the 1970s. On top of his six conference titles, he also led the Hoosiers to the runner-up spot ten times between 1958 and 1984. He took the previously undecorated Hoosiers intoNCAA Division I Men's Golf Championshipscompetition on twelve occasions, with the team's best placing being sixth in 1974.[15]Despite strong results in sporting achievements, Fitch emphasised academics first and foremost forstudent-athletes.His charges remembered Fitch pushing them hard both physically and academically, in the style of his previous coach Bernie Bierman. After his retirement in 1989, Fitch later reflected "I'm mighty proud that for 10 straight years my golf team led all athletic teams on campus in grade-point average and only three players didn't graduate in the 34 years I coached golf".[12]His 32 years as Hoosiers golf head coach made him the longest-tenured coach in Indiana University history.[15]

On August 29, 1942, Fitch married Helen Dichensheets.[16]He died on April 5, 2003, inBloomington, Indiana.[15]

Head coaching record

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Football

[edit]
Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Augustana (South Dakota) Vikings(North Central Conference)(1947)
1947 Augustana 3–5 2–3 5th
Augustana: 3–5 2–3
Total: 3–5

References

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  1. ^abRobert Fitch.trackfield.brinkster.net
  2. ^abBob Fitch.Minnesota Golden Gophers. Retrieved on November 8, 2014.
  3. ^NCAA DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIPS (MEN).GBR Athletics. Retrieved on November 8, 2014.
  4. ^UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIPS (MEN 1876–1942).GBR Athletics. Retrieved on November 8, 2014.
  5. ^"Miss Helen Louise Dickensheets Chooses August 29 to Marry Robert E. Fitch",Minneapolis Sunday Tribune and Star Journal,Minneapolis, Minnesota, volume LXXVI, number 91, August 23, 1942, page 2.
  6. ^"Coast Guard Coach Had Good Help in Football",Binghamton Press,Binghamton, New York, volume 64, number 224, January 4, 1943, page 13.
  7. ^Royal, Chip."All-American Service Team, Coaches Dream",Wilkes-Barre Record,Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, December 11, 1943, page 17.
  8. ^"Fitch Back in School! May Play",Minneapolis Sunday Tribune,Minneapolis, Minnesota, volume LXXIX, number 129, September 30, 1945, page 4.
  9. ^ab"13th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2011"(PDF).Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2011. pp. 606, 607. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on August 18, 2012.RetrievedAugust 10,2011.
  10. ^"New Discus Mark Set At 180' 2".Nevada State Journal.June 9, 1946.RetrievedNovember 17,2014.
  11. ^abUNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIPS (MEN 1943–).GBR Athletics. Retrieved on November 8, 2014.
  12. ^abcdWhite, Maury (June 26, 2005).Bob Fitch, Audubon, 1991.Des Moines Register.Retrieved on November 8, 2014.
  13. ^Fortune Gordien.Minnesota Golden Gophers. Retrieved on November 8, 2014.
  14. ^Mechanical analysis of the discus throw.WorldCat. Retrieved on November 8, 2014.
  15. ^abcHoosier Athletics Mourns Loss of Former CoachArchivedNovember 8, 2014, at theWayback Machine.Indiana Hoosiers (May 9, 2009). Retrieved on November 8, 2014.
  16. ^File:Bob Fitch marriage 1942.jpg
Records
Preceded by Men's discus throw world recordholder
June 8, 1946 – October 10, 1948 		Succeeded by


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