Tom Eiche

1950 - 2021

Tom Eiche

1950 ~ 2021

Tom was born in May of 1950 in Sacramento, CA as the only child of Judy and John Eiche. He died on November 9th, 2021, due to respiratory acidosis. Tom grew up in SLC, UT. He attended Lincoln Jr. High and South High School. At South he was an Honor Roll student and got straight A's his senior year. He was an All-State swimming first team selection in both his Junior and Senior years. He set 3 state records as a senior and still holds most of the South High swimming school records due to South's closing. He set the Utah State record in the 100yd Butterfly with a time of 56.2 seconds without the benefit of shaving down. He won the first Utah High School Aqua pentathlon as a senior. Tom was also the Captain of the swim team. His High School coach told people "He didn't know how to swim the Butterfly until he was a sophomore".

He graduated from the U of U where he was the Captain of the Swimming and Water Polo teams. In 1970 he became Utah's first All-American Butterfly swimmer by posting a 1:56.797 in the 200 Fly (at altitude). He placed first or second in the Butterfly in the conference meet all 4 years. His senior year he set school records in and won both Butterfly events in the WAC conference meet. He qualified for the NCAA national championships all 4 years and swam 6 different events. Thank you, Don Reddish. He was a 5-state regional AAU first team Water Polo player.

Tom was an assistant swimming and water polo coach at the U of U and coached High School swimming and water polo in Utah and Wyoming. He coached 5 state championship teams, high school All-Americans in swimming and water polo and dozens of individual state champion swimmers and state record holders. He was coach of the year numerous times and helped teach his athletes about the dedication and hard work needed to be champions in the pool and in life. He transformed mediocre or underachieving programs into state championship teams in 2 different states. He founded the Eagle Aquatic Team age group swimming program in 1977.

Tom swam competitively in the Masters Swimming program setting dozens of Utah Masters Swimming age group records. He swam 40 National Top Ten times in his age group in 12 different events and was a National Champion in the 100 yd. Backstroke.

He was a leader and strived to help others. He was President of two Condo HOA's, high school swimming coaches' associations, Utah State AAU State Water Polo Association Chairman, meet director and manager of WAC swimming championships and Utah State High School swimming championship meets. He was the Utah Masters Swimming Chairman and served as the registrar for many years. He served on the Steiner Aquatic center advisory board for 3 years. In 1975 he organized and ran the first Utah Water Polo summer league for high school and college age players. He taught over 2000 people swimming skills. He helped 2 people with CPR and made many water assists at swimming pools as a lifeguard. One December he happened to hear the cries of two little boys who fell through the ice of a condo swimming pool and could not get out. He pulled them out when no one else was around. Tom worked for Salt Lake County for 30 years and helped the elderly stay in their homes by delivering over 430,000 meals for Meals on Wheels program. He had a wonderful best friend for many years his Dachshund Rowdy.

He was always reading (2 to 3 hours a day), exercising, learning new things, and traveling. He made exercising a part of every day. He had a great sense of humor and liked making people smile. He found ways to constantly try to give back to the community. He supported a variety of animal rights and environmental protection organizations, volunteered, and was concerned about saving the environment and reducing his impact on the earth. Think globally and act locally. He cringed when people were idling in their cars and using way too much water at the gym.

Hawaii, Africa, Bahamas, Lake Tahoe, California, Germany, France, Mexico, and Canada were some of the many places he traveled to. He loved warm beaches and was most comfortable around a swimming pool.

The Beach Boys made a great impact in his life with their songs and messages in their lyrics. See "Spring Vacation" and "Don't worry baby" lyrics. To remember Tom, please save for retirement and start/keep working out for the rest of your life. Tom donated his body to the U of U medical school.

Tom wanted to thank the people who helped him during his life especially schoolteachers and coaches, teammates, former swimmers, coworkers, and friends.

Per Tom's request there will be no funeral or formal celebration of life held. In lieu of flowers, etc. the Executors of his estate humbly suggest charitable donations in his name to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary World Wildlife Federation, Nature Conservancy or a similar organization.