Ronald L Johnson, May 7, 2002 (updated Aug 17, 2009)

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Ron Johnson died on August 8, 2009 at the age of 78. A Celebration of Life was held on Saturday August 15.  Ron was inducted into the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame in 2007.

(M 65-69 and 70-74), 2001 Masters Swimmer of the Year,

Ron Johnson may have been one of the most accomplished swimmers of 2001, but he's convinced his best times were left in the operating room. That's because last December, as Johnson was peaking for his biggest meet of the year, he was waylaid by both a double hernia and a prostrate problem. Then he tore ligaments in his knee while kicking breaststroke.

Despite the late-season setbacks, Johnson, who lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., just outside Phoenix, was one of two men to dominate the 70-74 age group last year. The other was Graham Johnston , and when they raced, everyone stopped to watch "Johnson vs. Johnston."

Johnson finished 2001 with 13 No. 1 rankings and 11 world and national records. He also became the first man over 70 years to break 3 minutes in the 200 meter IM (2:59.90). He also owned top rankings in every discipline except breaststroke.

Johnson, the only coach ever to win collegiate and Masters awards for Coach of the Year (he coached Arizona State University), runs the Sun Devils Masters program in Tempe, Ariz.

When Masters swimmers die, maybe they get to go to a place like this: workouts run like clockwork morning, noon and night, and Olympic swimmers stand on deck giving stroke instruction. The head man, Johnson, spends his idle hours writing a swim book called "A Feel for the Water," which will present interviews with top coaches, training philosophies and a general assessment of where the sport is going.

A couple of interesting facts about Johnson: first, he was the first man ever to hold the world record in the 100 yard butterfly. The stroke (which grew out of breaststroke) was legalized in September 1954. A month later, Johnson, a swimmer at the University of Iowa, set the first global standard.

Second, around the same time, a young Ph.D. student, working as an assistant coach at Iowa, wrote his thesis on stroke mechanics in swimming and used the strokes of two swimmers to build his case. The Ph.D. student was, of course, James "Doc" Counsilman, and this work would ultimately change the sport forever. One of Counsilman's subjects was none other than Ron Johnson.

(by P.H. Mullen, published in Swim Magazine, May-June, 2002)

For years, Ron Johnson has coached -- from 6-year-old beginners to world-class athletes. "The thing about coaching is that you can learn something from swimmers at every level. Once you've worked with the good ones, you can come back and offer the benefits to the beginners."

The current beneficiaries are the 135 members of the Sun Devil Masters Swim Team he founded in 1992 just prior to his retirement after years guiding the Arizona State University men and women.

"I'm enjoying coaching Masters more than any other coaching I've ever done. They are so appreciative. They say `thank you.' And they are paying me," he chuckles.

He, himself, learned from one of the best. While at Iowa, he received coaching from an assistant named Doc Counsilman, advice that he parlayed into two third-place NCAA finishes in the individual medley.

From his cumulative knowledge comes the beliefs and training that have made Johnson a world-class aquanaut. In 1998, he became the only male Masters swimmer simultaneously to hold world records in all four individual strokes plus the IM. "Technique, technique, technique," he says. "If you want to be fast, technique is more important than conditioning. With good technique, you can succeed at any distance."

Johnson essentially coaches himself and goes 3,000 yards six to seven days a week. Three days he does "easy speed": "I try to hit a goal time and keep my pulse below 160. The secret is to swim really fast and not get your pulse up. One can't race effectively, at any age, with a pulse over 160," he notes.

Johnson hasn't done weights for three years and is convinced he's faster as a result. He does, however, do a lot of pulling and sprint kicking ("resistance swimming") with 400 yards of sculling thrown in.

(by Michael J. Stott, published in Swim Magazine, March/April 1999)