The 91-year-old swim and divecoaching legend, Hobie Billingsley, came back to his stomping grounds last Sunday to watch this years team practice. He offered wise words of advice and told them about his time at Indiana.  Billingsly was IU’s diving coach from 1959 until 1989. His divers won more than 100 diving titles.

Over the summer, Billingsley was diagnosed with Myasthenia Graves, a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease that causes weakness in the skeletal muscles which are responsible for breathing and moving parts of the body. Billingsley recovered in the hospital, and after months he was able to make it to Royer Pool and see the team. Below is the article that will tell you more about his sickness and time in the hospital.

https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/hobie-billingsley-diagnosed-with-myasthenia-gravis-recovering-in-hospital/

The divers were practicing this week with  Billingsley on the sideline.  The majority of them said that it was, “nerve-racking, but an honor.”