Mike Lyden, the head diving coach for the Eastern Michigan University men's and women's swimming and diving teams from 1980-89, died April 11 after a two-year fight with cancer. He was the head diving coach for the University of Kentucky swimming and diving teams for the past 15 years. Lyden was 51.
"Mike (Lyden) was a once in a lifetime coach," said Peter Linn, EMU's head swimming and diving coach. "He dominated every conference his divers competed in during his coaching career. At Eastern, he touched everyone in the program and made not only his divers, but the swimmers as well, better athletes and even better people. He had a dramatic and positive impact on both the University and the community."
Lyden spent nine seasons at EMU as the head diving coach for both the men's and women's programs, and was named the Mid-American Conference Diving coach of the Year nine times. He left EMU to become the head diving coach at Louisiana State University from 1989-93 and was the SEC Women's Diving Coach of the Year four consecutive years. He was the 1992 SEC Men's Diving Coach of the Year. During his tenure at LSU, his divers won 15 of 24 possible SEC titles.
Lyden left LSU to become the head diving coach of the Kentucky swimming and diving team in 1993, a post he was in through the 2007-08 season. During his career, he earned nine Southeastern Conference Diving Coach of the Year titles, including winning the award in three consecutive seasons, from 2005-2007. Lyden was named NCAA Women's Diving Coach of the Year in 1996.
Along with his collegiate coaching, Lyden coached various Kentucky diving clubs and led seven age-group divers to 18 national championships. Lyden was chosen as a coach for the Junior World Diving Championships in 2002, which took place in Aachen, Germany. At that event, he coached one member to a seventh-place finish in the one-meter and three-meter boards. In addition, Lyden served as the national team coach in 1988-90, 1992, 1994-96, 1998-2000, and directed divers in competitions in Italy, Austria, Mexico, Canada, Spain, China, France and Holland.
"Mike was the perfect diving coach," said Gary Conelly, the University of Kentucky's head swimming coach. "From the very beginning, he struck me as a guy with a lot of passion (for diving)."
Conelly said he formed a close friendship with Lyden over the years, both on and off the pool deck.
"What I always admired about Mike was he was always a straight talker," Conelly said. "He'd talk to his athletes, sit them down, and tell them what they were doing right or wrong, and in a way that wasn't offensive."
Lyden is survived by his wife, Emily, and his three children, Jessica, Jack and Brittany. A public viewing took place April 14 and the funeral mass was April 15.
A fund has been established by the University of Kentucky Athletics Department to help Lyden's family. All donations will go directly to the family. A generous donor has offered to match funds submitted by the diving community. In order to have your donation matched, please make your check out to Wildcats Aquatics - IronMike Memorial Fund and send to Springboards and More, P.O. Box 268, Milford, OH 45150, which will coordinate the gift with the matching donor.
