Ray Bussard was employed in 1966 to build a men’s swimming program, a sport that the university had discontinued in 1959. His first team, all freshmen, ended the 1968 season with a surprising second-place finish in the Southeastern Conference. The next year, his team won the Southeastern Conference title, and Tennessee swim teams began a decade of domination that included seven straight Southeastern Conference titles and, in 1978, a national championship. Bussard’s record for 21 years was 252-20 in dual meets. His teams defeated 85 consecutive foes, won eight SEC championships, and finished in the top five at the NCAA championships eight consecutive times.
Bussard coached the university’s first Olympic Gold medalist, David Edgar (1972). He was named NCAA Coach of the Year in 1972 and 1978 and was SEC Coach of the Year five times. He coached the US team in the Pan American Games in 1979 and 1983, and he served as sprint coach for the US swim team at the 1984 Olympics. In 1984 he received the Outstanding Coach of the Year award from the American Swim Coaches’ Association and the National Collegiate and Scholastic Swimming Trophy for outstanding contributions made to the sport from the College Swimming Coaches’ Association.
Bussard started the Tennessee Swimming Hall of Fame and has been inducted into the Knoxville and Tennessee Sports Halls of Fame, the American Swimming Coaches Hall of Fame, and the International Swimming Hall of Fame. He retired from the university in 1988.