Former U.S. Olympian Richard Thornton was one of the founders and a swim coach at San Ramon Valley Aquatics. He died while entering the water to surf in Santa Cruz on Thursday.
Courtesy of San Ramon Valley AquaticsSan Francisco Bay Area swim coach and former U.S. Olympic team member Richard Thornton died Thursday while entering the water to surf in Santa Cruz, his family confirmed. Thornton was 65, according to multiple media reports.
His brother Marc Thornton confirmed Richard Thornton’s death on social media and said Richard was “doing what he loved” at the Hook, a surf break on Santa Cruz’s east side.
Richard’s daughter, Kirra Thornton, wrote on Facebook that the cause of death is unknown. She said her father was an “avid surfer” and shared that he had named her after one of his favorite breaks.
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Richard Thornton was head coach of San Ramon Valley Aquatics, a team for athletes of all ages and skill levels that includes a program focused on developing competitive swimmers. He founded the team, Bay Area News Group reported. “Since 1984, Thornton had coached Olympic and world championship finalists, world record holders and NCAA All-Americans. He coached US national teams, and junior national teams, in France in 1994; Brazil in 1995; and in Japan in 1997,” the news site said.
Olympic swimmer and eight-time gold medal-winner Matt Biondi was a member of the team under Thornton, according to the club’s website.
Thornton was a part of the U.S. men’s Olympic swimming team in 1980, the year the United States led a boycott of the games in Moscow due to the Soviet Union’s 1979 military invasion of Afghanistan. He was among hundreds of American athletes who made the team but didn’t compete.
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The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office and Coroner said it could not provide comment at this time.