Loveland Swimming Legend Collapses At Morning Practice, Dies
LOVELAND, Colo. (CBS4) - A longtime fixture in the Loveland swimming community passed away at a hospital after being pulled from a pool Saturday morning.
Kevin Polansky, 67, collapsed during a morning swim at the Mountain View High School Aquatics Center.
Eric Klaas, a battalion chief with Loveland Fire Rescue Authority, said 9-1-1 dispatchers received the call at 5:58 a.m. Polansky had been pulled from the water by bystanders who also performed CPR and tried to resuscitating Polansky with an automatic external defibrillator (AED).
Polanksy was taken to Medical Center of the Rockies, where he was pronounced.
Polansky swam successfully in college and became Loveland High School's swim coach from the 1970's into the 90's, per swimswam.com. He was named Colorado High School Coach of the Year four times.
He founded the Loveland Masters Swim Club in 1978 and has held numerous world and national Masters-level records.
Polansky developed a strong voice for swimming, too, and became an announcer for significant swim meets, most notably the NAIA and NCAA Division II national championships. He also worked as a swimming official at several levels of competition.
"He's going to be missed," Loveland HS principal Todd Ball told the Loveland Reporter-Herald. "He's part of the history of Loveland swimming."
Polansky was Ball's swim coach in high school.
Polansky was practicing with the Loveland Masters Swim Club when he collapsed. A member of the group told the Fort Collins Coloradoan that Polansky had recently told several friends that he felt when it was his time to die, it would be in the water.
