Augie Busch

โ€œThis place means so much to me,โ€ said Augie Busch, an assistant on the UAโ€™s title-winning teams in 2008.

Whenย Augie Buschย agreed to leave Virginia and become the swimming coach at Arizona, his plan included hiring one of the most impressive young staffs in NCAA swimming. Not only did he bring former UA All-American and team captainย Cory Chitwoodย from his Virginia staff, he also hired 16-time Arizona All-Americanย Beth Botsford, head coach at the Waunakee Wave swimming school in Madison, Wisconsin. Botsford is one of the top athletes in Arizona history; she was recruited to Arizona by Augieโ€™s father,ย Frank Busch,ย after winning two gold medals at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Botsford spent two years on the coaching staff at Wisconsin under ex-UA assistantย Whitney Hiteย before taking over the Wisconsin swimming academy.ย Sam Busch, Augieโ€™s youngest brother, also returns to the UA from the Virginia (and Auburn) staff. โ€œSam is already recruiting very tenaciously,โ€ Augie Busch said. โ€œThatโ€™s the only way he knows how to do it.โ€ Chitwood is now part of the USA Swimming coaching staff for next monthโ€™s World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.ย 


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Contact sports columnist Greg Hansen at 520-573-4362 or ghansen@tucson.com. On Twitter: @ghansen711