University Daily Kansan
Friday, April 22, 197
1
It was good coaching-plus a little something extra
BY COURTNEY THOMPSON
Associate Sports Editor
Gary Kempf won't be running in the Kansas City at the Kansas Relays this year. But he probably will next year. He has been a senior a senior in high school. And, oh, the pain.
Gary Kempf—now on the sidelines
Close to the end of the race, but exhausted, Kempf waited about 30 minutes for the pickup truck to arrive and end the ordeal. But it never showed. Something else did, though, which provided the needed incentive for him to finish the marathon.
He was still waiting for the truck when a girl passed him. He had no quolals about his girl by a girl—that wasn't the problem. But when she turned and laughed, that did it.
IT TOOK about 10 minutes for Kempt to stretch his legs out. He sprinted past her, got around the corner to the end and nearly fell asleep, he finished ahead of the girl. Just barely.
Kemp's time for the marathon was four and one half hours, including 30 minutes of truck-waiting time. But the time wasn't important to him. Only the fact that he had managed to finish made any difference. And, oh, the pain.
KET KEMP doesn't spend all his time in or around a swimming pool. In fact he said he felt little left out this season because he won competitively for the last 18 years.
Kemp, 23, is a swimming coach. When most people visualize swimmers, they think of crinkled fingers, bleached hair and jaws—back and forth, up and back, over and over
As head coach for the KU women's swim team and assistant coach for the men's squad, Kempf said he became frustrated sitting on the sidelines. just watching
"It was kind of lonely. I thought I should be swimming. But my last year was a long haul and I got frustrated with it too, so I told myself that I could have mustered another."
Kempf swam the backstroke freestyle and individual medley events for KU but was hampered last season by a knee injury. He him from competing at full strength.
THE INJURY also prevented him from trying out for the KU track team, an idea that had rambled around in his mind since coming to KU as a freshman.
Elbel was told to do it—so he keeps working
Edwin "Doc" Elibel's reason for his association with the Kansas Rangers was that he had spent time in the NL.
And he has, ever since, Elbald said recently that his association with the relays began in 1928 when he came to KU as a physical education teacher. At that time, Allen was athletic director and assigned him to work with the Relays.
Eldin defines his job as administrative detail work, such as jotting printing done on a computer.
HE SAID the reason he continued to work on the Relays went further than simple loyalty. After such a long connection with the event, he said, he would miss the event each year. He told me the team each year. Eibel has been retired from work at KU since 1909 and will be @2 in November.
One of the great benefits of his connection with the KU l晖es, he said, was the sense that he has a connection with the KU l暘es.
"Through the years I have developed some wonderful friendships with the fine people that compete at KU. As coach summons says, we have a fine bunch of kids here."
"The swim team has a mile run with the KU sprinter every year, and my time for that was 4:26, and I knew I could better that." She looked back seriously until my senior year though.
"But then my knee got screwed up, and right after swimming ended, I had surgery on it. So the track idea went down the drain."
KEMPF FIDDLED with a pencil and retraced a doodle several times as he mulled those ideas around and conceded that it was probably all for the best because workouts required of college track teams weren't his thing.
"Those guys take off and run 10 to 12 miles every day. I love to run to relax, but those kind of workouts just aren't for me. They're to demanding, and I'm probably
Kempf swam about six miles daily in
kempts. Not bad for someone who claims
to be a big man.
However, when asked whether most people didn't consider regular, rigorous swim workouts to be demanding, Kempf brushed off those efforts as no big thing.
"YEAH, I guess they are but I've done it so long it seems that the distances we swim aren't much. It became an unconscious thing."
It's doubtful, too, that "iary" describes a coach whose team had a winning season (losing only one meet), to the Big Eight Conference title, won the AIAW Region VI competition and sent entries to the AIAW nationals. All that was in Kemp's first year of college, the team made up primarily of freshman and a few sophomores. Not bad for openers.
BUT WAS IT Kempt it able coaching that sparked his team to do so well? Or would the curly blush hair, the sparkling blue eyes, the bright face, the spoken men have a little to do with it?
About the hair that's stylish unruly—it's natural, and he's given up on it.
"You wouldn't believe how many times I get asked about it. I tried to train it in high school but nothing much worked. So I finally learned to speak English and shake it, and give up—it does whatever."
And about his good coaching record, Kempf said it was a combination of the team getting along well together and caring about what people did.
YOU HAVE to care about those you work with and try to help them out. Personal contact is important, and we all got along real well."
"If the two come together, that's great. But sports is getting to be more and more a big business, and I won't do that. It's all stuff you can do with sport—to have fun and just do your best."
Lombardi credo, which puts winning above any and everything. To him, winning rates are a lot better than winning on the floor.
HE SAID, however, that his team knows he always expects 100 per cent from each individual. If a swimmer batches a per cent of the water frustrated for that person, not for himself.
"I've always hated coaches who yell when you lose. And I can't see any sense in it. There's no need to take out my pent-up frustrations on them."
If Kempi is a likeable coach to work for and projects an easy-going attitude, maybe the team will respond well.
If someone swims a poor race, Kempt said he lets that person coach of then swim with him. "I know they hate it."
"If there's talk, I look first at what they did right—there's always something, regardless. Then I tell them what took the race apart."
"I IF I CAN break it down and say, 'Your first 50 was beautiful, your second okay, your third stunk, and the fourth was fair' a swimmer can relate well to that."
Bartlesville, OKla., to initiate an annual cross-town run, Kemp decided he would
The idea of competitive swimming was a and-m-down from his older brother, Tom. Turning 45, he joined the team and was named All America. Both brothers teamed up with phillips 66 86.
And he should know—he's been swimming competitively since he was six.
IT WAS KEMPFS' own idea to take up
it and cross country in high school. But
it didn't happen, and I learned a lot.
There was a father-son crosstown race scheduled, and Kemp's father started practicing his running so he and his brother were for fun. And they won. Not bad-for fun.
When it came time for his home town of
There's not much question that Kemp't father began to take this running thing off the map.
At 52, he has run about 30 marathons within the past seven years and is one of the top Master's runners around. He ran in the Kansas Relays马拉松 in 1973 and 1974 as a runner for the Championship last year in Toronto when he on the All-U.S. Masters Marathon team.
KEMPP'S FATHER planned to run in the KU Marathon in this year's Reyals, but knee problems will keep him from competing. He'll be expected to be here next year. And so does he.
The knee hasn't returned to full strength yet so proper training for this year's run wasn't possible, but he is determined to be ready for 1978.
Add the training program to his double coaching duties and Kempit should be busy next year. He said he didn't apply for the job as men's coach because he thought the department wanted someone who could make a long-term commitment. He wasn't sure why, but it was two reasons. He likes what he's doing now, considering returning to school part-time.
IF FINANCES allow, Kempf said he wanted to begin work on his Master's in toxicology this fall. His idea, then, would be to work with an oil company in environmental and toxicologic evaluation of new products and their effects.
Also, coaching in the women's athletic program was rewarding, he said, and was in no way a second-fidle position when going to a job in the men's athletic program.
Kempf's only quarrel with the
kempf's national women's athletics in general is that he prefers the
He considers scholarships based solely on athletic ability are unwarranted and thinks financial investment is琐碎ed on the basis of financial need. Because he usually flock to the coasts, Kempf said attractive scholarship offers are especially designed to build a good program in the Midwest.
HOWEVER, HE said, in swimming, KU found out this year that it belonged at the hotel.
"This was the first time most of the girls had seen national competition. Like Debbie Burrill, she was an avid competitor in ability. And she was scared. Because to stand on that block and realize you now capable of swimming against you were in awe of is frightening.
"It takes a while to realize you belong. Sometimes swimmers finish the nationals, saying 'God, I'm glad it's over.' But they didn’t--they were excited.
"They realized we were at the top." Next season's a ways off yet, and it's hard
to predict whether the right mixture of talent, determination and maybe a dash of luck will return then. But should the combination of curly hair that goes beserk, be fluffy and smile have anything to do with it, the KU's women's swim team has a good start.
Concerts for Young People, Inc. in cooperation with SUA presents the
HARTFORD BALLET
in a one hour performance
SUNDAY, MAY 1, 3 p.m.
UNIVERSITY THEATRE
K.U. Student tickets in advance
at SUA Box Office ... $2.00
Children ... 1.00
Adults ... 2.50
at the door
Spoon River Anthology
Hashinger Hall Theatre
April 22,23 & 24 8:00 pm 50c Donation
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