RE: Bill Earley

Former Member — Sun, 07 Jul 2002 15:18:46 GMT

One expects to be saddened when a close swimming friend passes away. What took my breath away was how much I was shocked to hear of "Wild Bill" Earley's death. Bill was and still is one of my USMS heroes. I'm tempted to refer to him as the "old man and the sea," but that would not be quite right. I guess I have always thought of Bill as ageless--neither old nor young. Ya, he swam in whatever age group the calendar said. But, when it came to summer friday evening swims in the ocean, or quaffing down a beer and pizza at the Venetian, or perpetually volunteering to serve on Coronado Masters' Board of Directors, or cajoling his teammates to compete in Zone or National Championships, or spending most of his days half naked--like all the other lifeguards--or composing limericks for the team party, or just plain swimming fast (the three times we swam a 200 IM in the same heat, he beat me all three times), Bill was in there living life with people half his age, and with a gusto that impressed everyone. I guess I'd always assumed he'd be there "forever," and one day we would notice he was challenging the 100-104 age group records. Guess not. The loss is heavy on those of us who were priviledged to share his company. Bill truly lived life the way he chose, and as other have observed, left it doing something he loved. My fondest fantasy would be to revive the Around the Island Swim (ATIS) or Off the Island Swim (OTIS) in his honor. His pioneering efforts bringing those two races to life in the 80's and 90's would stand as an impressive acheivement in most people's lives. For Bill, of course, they would be a mere footnote in the story of his life. If that is not possible, I wonder if those of us who knew him could gather at Coronado Beach on some appointed evening for an ocean swim in his memory. I'm sure he'd join us, in some fashion, from wherever he is and make some ribald remark at our expense. And, we'd surely laugh at the "spirit" he intended. Matt

RE: Bill Earley

Sally Dillon — Sun, 07 Jul 2002 06:09:51 GMT

Regarding Bill's untimely death: I hope Don Baker doesn't mind my sharing the following statement he made about Bill. "He told me just last week, when he died he wanted to be swimming. Today in the 4 th of July 1 mile Ocean race at Coronado, Bill suffered a heart attack during the race. He was pulled from the water by a paddler, administered O2 and a paramedic team applied the paddles to no avail. He was pronounced dead upon arrival. A great patriot died on the Fourth of July." I have no doubt that it was very traumatic for the race directors (and fellow swimmers) to lose someone during their event but I'm sure many of us can relate to Bill's wish to "die swimming". Bill was a wonderful and irreplaceable character in our large swimming family. His passion for swimming and everything related was probably only matched by his love of his country. Did he ever wear anything other than red, white and blue? I will surely miss him! Sally