Quick Is an Example of Strength and Encouragement

I wanted to share this story written by Ray Melick of the Birmingham News.

All thoughts with Quick as he battles cancer

Friday, January 09, 2009

RAY MELICK

News staff writer

AUBURN - No one expected Richard Quick to show up at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center Thursday for the Auburn-Texas swim meet.

But then, no one was surprised when he did.

"It's tough to keep Richard Quick away from a pool deck," said Brett Hawke, promoted to coach the Auburn men's swim team after Quick, the head coach, was diagnosed with an inoperable cancerous brain tumor in mid-December.

Quick's presence didn't help Auburn against Texas. The No.1 ranked Longhorn men defeated the No.8 ranked Tigers, 139-102, while the No.4-ranked Longhorn women's team defeated the No.7-ranked Auburn women, 129-109.

"This isn't about us," said Auburn swimmer Matt Target. "This is a time for Coach Quick to put himself first. But the team is a close second."

The 65-year-old Quick went to the doctor after suffering short-term memory loss, blurred vision, and periods of disorientation.

"I thought it was stress related," Quick said. "My wife's father died on Dec. 1. But when one night I got lost on the way home, I told her, `Maybe I need to be checked for Alzheimer's.'"

But an MRI revealed cancer.

"Needless to say, I've had several different tests," Quick said. "And they've all been consistent.

"I'm going to New York this weekend. I have an appointment at Sloan-Kettering. They're doing a study with treatment that is considered outside the box. But I'm living outside the box, because inside the box the prognosis is not good."

Quick looks good, and admits if he didn't know he had cancer he'd never know anything was wrong.

But while he seeks treatment, the Auburn program has been turned over to Hawke and Dorsey Tierney-Walker.

"Coach Quick called me on Christmas Eve and told me," Hawke said. "I was shocked, obviously. Then we decided that we didn't want the team to hear about it over the Internet, so we started calling them all right then, on Christmas Eve. "It was a tough Christmas."

Typically the Auburn team goes to Florida to train after Christmas. Tierney-Walker said the team decided to stay in Auburn to be near Quick.

"The entire team went to see Richard and his wife on New Year's Eve, the first time they'd all seen him since they got the news," Tierney-Walker said. "It was awesome, a really positive experience.

"We knew it would take some time for the kids to adjust to the news. But after that, it's like they all went back to business. There have been some heavy hearts. But they know this is what Richard would want."

One of the most recognizable names in the swimming world, Quick is a six-time United States Olympic coach who has directed 12 teams to NCAA titles.

For Hawke, being head swim coach at Auburn, where he was a 17-time All-America swimmer from 1997-99, is a dream come true.

"But this was too soon for me, and certainly not the way I wanted it to happen," Hawke said. "But Richard has confidence in me to lead the team and do it in his honor."

As for Quick, "I'm optimistic. My faith is the cornerstone. I don't think God made me a competitor to sit on the sideline and take this. I'm fighting it with Him.

"My goal is to whip this and then get back to my life." And back on the pool deck, where he belongs.