Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame
A 31-year veteran of the coaching ranks at Rutgers, Frank Elm was recognized as one of the finest swimming and diving coaches in America. Three times he was named to the coaching staff of the U.S. Olympic team; twice as an assistant (1968 and 1976) and in 1980 he was named head coach of the U.S. team, the largest American swimming and diving team assembled at that time. He also coached the 1967 U.S. Pan American Games team, and two U.S. National Teams that toured Japan in 1975 and the Soviet Union in 1981. At Rutgers, Elm can best be described as the driving force in the development of the swimming and diving program. He developed 10 Olympic swimmers- two gold medal winners, several Pan Am Games swimmers, five of whom won gold medals. He also tutored several individual and national championship swimmers as well as national relay champions. He oversaw the development of the women's swimming and diving program at Rutgers, a team that went undefeated from 1973-75. Near the end of his career, he was able to help oversee the construction of the Sonny Werblin Recreation Center, one of the finest swimming and diving facilities in America. Elm received the Master Coaches Award from the Swimming Coaches' Association of America in 1973 and was bestowed with the honor of Loyal Son in 1992 by the Rutgers Alumni Association.
