According to reports, Richard Thornton, a 1980 Olympian and swim coach died in Santa Cruz at The Hook, a popular surf spot at Pleasure Point near the Opal Cliffs neighborhood. He was 65.
While the details of his death are not clear, his family did announce his passing on social media. “Sorry for having to share this information,” wrote his brother Marc Thornton on Facebook, “but Richard Thornton passed away surfing today at The Hook in Santa Cruz. Doing what he loved.”
His daughter, who Thornton named after the famed wave in Australia, added to the announcement, wishing to clear up an error in a now-deleted article.
“I want to clear up any misinformation…” Kirra Thornton wrote. “My father did not pass in a surfing accident. He was stepping into the water to go surfing. He was an avid surfer who named me after one of his favorite surf spots and he would not appreciate this erroneous report. Cause of death is still unknown.”
Thornton was an accomplished swimmer, serving as the head coach at San Ramon Valley Aquatics since 1984. In 1980, he was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team that famously boycotted the summer games in Moscow. He also coached Olympic finalists, World Championship finalists, European Championship finalists, and NCAA All-Americans. In addition, Thornton was named Pacific Swimming Coach of the Year, and was nominated for the award six years in a row between 1994 and 2000.
Thornton wasn’t the only swimmer of note in his family. His father, Nort Thornton, was a swim coach at UC Berkeley for over 30 years until he retired in 2007. Nort was known as “one of the deans of college coaching in the United States.”
Our condolences go out to the family, friends, and anyone affected by Richard Thornton’s passing.
