Before competition, swimmers stare down a narrow lane to prepare for their individual event during a swimming meet. For WSU women’s swimming coach Tom Jager, his straight and narrow path would eventually lead him to Olympic greatness.

For Jager, originally from Collinsville, Illinois, competitive swimming runs through his bloodline. His brother Bill earned a collegiate swimming scholarship at the University of Illinois, while his sister Diane was an All-American swimmer at the University of Iowa.

Jager said his family influenced him to become more involved with the sport at an early age.

“I grew up as a pool rat,” Jager said. “When we saw the values of the individual sport and the work ethic, it became an important part of our family’s lives.”

Jager began swimming with friends in Collinsville, before moving to East St. Louis, Illinois, to become more involved in competitive swimming through a country club near his home. Jager’s hard work would pay off when he received a scholarship offer from UCLA to race for their prestigious swimming program.

Jager’s friends he raced with throughout childhood were both influential and supportive in his decision to race far away from home.

“Sometimes when you get successful, you get surrounded by people that are envious, and it can make for a miserable experience,” Jager said. “But I was very fortunate to have a truly great support group.”

Jager quickly made an impact for the UCLA Bruins swimming team upon arrival, winning NCAA individual national championships in the 100-meter freestyle during his first two seasons competing for the team.

After a successful first two seasons at UCLA, Jager received the chance of a lifetime when he was selected for the United States National Team in preparation for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Jager would finally get a chance to represent his country and compete on the sport’s biggest stage.

“It was a great experience in my life,” Jager said. “It was and is the highest level of sport possible, and it was an honor to compete at such a level.”

When the pressure was on, Jager delivered some of his biggest performances. Jager won seven Olympic medals during his career from 1984-92, including five gold medals.

Outside of the Olympics, Jager would continue his dominance on a global stage. Jager, a former captain for the U.S. National Team at the World Championships, won 11 national titles and held the 50-meter freestyle record three times from 1990-2000.

Jager retired after a prestigious competitive swimming career in 2000, and was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2001. After a three-year hiatus from competition, Jager decided to pursue a college coaching career.

“As my kids got older, I wanted to send them the right message,” Jager said. “It helped me love this sport even more than before.”

Jager accepted the head coaching job at the University of Idaho in 2004, where he rebuilt a program that had been dormant for decades. After seven seasons at Idaho, Jager looked for a new challenge when he took the same position at WSU in 2011.

Jager said what brought him to WSU was the high level of competition in the Pac-12 conference.

“The Pac-12 in swimming is the ultimate conference in the world,” Jager said. “I believe in a ‘Sound-mind, sound-body’ philosophy, and the conference represents that.”

Cougar swimming has undergone a complete transformation both in and out of the pool since Jager took over the program. The team earned Team Scholar All-America status from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) in 2011 and 2014.

Senior Ali Mand said her experience as a student-athlete under Jager is the defining moment of her time at WSU.

“I’ve learned so many things I didn’t expect to learn coming into college swimming,” Mand said. “I’ve learned to finish what I start, and it all applies to things outside of sports and life in general.”

Senior Nicole Proulx said she is a better person after having Jager as a coach for the past four seasons.

“The way that he carries the team, you learn from how he carries himself,” Proulx said. “He’s a great leader, great coach, and he wants us to be better for us.”