‘GODFATHER OF SAN DIEGO WATER POLO’

One of the true legends of San Diego high school sports, Dick Draz, a national Hall of Famer in both water polo (2003) and swimming (1999), died Tuesday. He was 92.

“Dick Draz single-handedly started water polo in San Diego County,” said former CIF San Diego Section commissioner Dennis Ackerman.

“He was Mr. Water Polo. He was a longtime tournament director for water polo and swimming and he started the Dick Draz Classic, a fundraiser which always featured some of the best teams. He was so much fun to be around, he was so dedicated.

“Everybody loved him. He made it go.”

One of his many outstanding players at Crawford was Brian Wilbur, a lifelong friend who would go on to work with Draz in presenting the section water polo championships for boys and girls.

Wilbur called Draz “a man ahead of his time in his dedication to aquatics.”

It wasn’t by design. A native of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, Draz arrived at Crawford hoping to coach football.

“The principal told him he was going to coach water polo and swimming, which he knew nothing about,” Wilbur said. “But he went to every clinic, he asked the best coaches, and he learned by burying himself in aquatics.”

As a swim coach at Crawford, he compiled a 253-38-1 record from 1962-86. He was named the National Swimming Coach of the Year in 1986. He captured five section swimming and two water polo titles, although his Colts did make the championship five other times. His water polo record was 334106-1.

Draz coached dozens of high school All-Americans in both sports. Among them was Mike Stamm, a backstroker who won gold at the 1972 Olympics.

Draz moved on to Mesa College in 1990, which allowed him to be the section tournament director for high school water polo. Draz knew a lot about marketing his sport, Wilbur said; the coach’s hospitality room during the water polo championships became legendary among the media, college and high school coaches and city officials who visited La Jolla High School.

“He cared about every one of his players — all of us — and when they came home from college, he’d stay connected,” Wilbur said. “He was so committed to the sport. He went to the San Diego

Unified School District board meetings numerous times to keep aquatics alive. He was very persuasive.

“When he worked on the section championships, he’d do everything from tickets to entries. He was so detail-oriented.”

More than that, Wilbur said, “Dick Draz was my second dad. He had such an incredible work ethic, impacting thousands of people.”

Bishop’s water polo coach Doug Peabody is another Crawford High School grad who was greatly influenced by Draz.

“He is the godfather of San Diego water polo,” said Peabody. “I’m going to miss him, I’ll miss him a ton. The whole community will miss him. He gave me his books which detailed his workouts and all 17 of his CIF plaques. He founded the Ironman Relays which are still going and he was inducted into both the water polo and swimming Hall of Fames.”

Draz was involved in everything aquatics, including being a longtime member of the San Diego County Coaching Legends, where he was inducted into the inaugural class in 1999.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Helen; sons John and Dan; and his daughter Katherine. Memorial services are being planned.