Frank Busch dies at 75 after collapsing at Phoenix airport: What we know about the Olympic swimming coach’s cause of death

Frank Busch, the University of Arizona’s longtime swimming coach who coached USA Swimming at the Olympics, has died at 75. Busch died Sunday, September 27, after returning from a fishing trip in Idaho when he collapsed at Phoenix airport, as per Arizona Daily Star.

His sister, Dorothy Rackstraw, also confirmed his death in a Facebook post. “He was a former OLYMPIC COACH for USA swimming and had been a coach for his entire life starting at age 16,” Rackstraw wrote.

Busch was a father of five and had seven great-grandchildren. He is survived by his wife, Patty, whom he has been married to for more than 50 years.

Frank Busch's cause of death

Frank Busch died of a heart attack, according to the outlet. Frank’s sister’s Facebook post goes on to detail the cause of death, saying it was a “massive heart attack.”

Who was Frank Busch?

Busch was born and raised in Edgewood, Kentucky, where he started coaching swimming at the age of 16. According to the American Swimming Coaches Association, he started in the coaching business in 1967.

From 1974 to 1978, he was head coach of the Northern Kentucky Piranhas age-group and senior teams. He then spent a season as an assistant coach for the Cincinnati Marlins in ’79-80, during which time the club put together six swimmers on the 1980 Olympic team and had three world-swimming records.

Busch was the head swimming coach at the University of Arizona from ’89 to 2011. During his 22 seasons, he turned the Arizona swimming (Arizona Wildcats) and diving program into a national powerhouse.

His Arizona swimmers have won 49 NCAA individual titles and 31 relay titles and the Wildcats have won two NCAA team championships. His most successful team was in 2008, when he led Arizona to NCAA titles in both men’s and women’s swimming.