CEDAR CITY — Longtime Cedar High School swim team coach Richard Coston, recognized as one Utah’s winningest coaches, died on Wednesday in St. George. He was 75.
During Coston’s illustrious 40-year career, Cedar High swim teams won a total of 14 state titles, nine by its boys teams and five by its girls. The Cedar boys took state six years in a row between 1994 and 1999, while the CHS girls team won two of its state championships during that same span and two more right after that. Coston received coach of the year honors at the state meet a total of 10 times.
“If you were looking for Richard Coston, your first stop would be at the aquatic center,” said Megan Moses, who succeeded Coston as Cedar High School’s head swim coach after having been his assistant.
“He was involved with swim programs for most of his adult life and was dedicated to the kids involved,” Moses added. “When he was teaching a swimmer, he would do so with examples related to experiences that he had throughout his life. He didn’t lecture; he taught.”
Moses said she feels fortunate to have had the opportunity to work alongside Coston, in coaching youth community teams as well as Cedar High’s teams.
“The time he spent growing programs that served our youth has created a foundation for the programs we have today,” she said. “His time spent in the community was more than just service. He left behind a legacy of dedication and care.”
John Moran, swim coach at Juan Diego Catholic High School and a longtime friend of Coston’s, said that Coston’s legacy in Utah swimming “will never come to an end.”
“His example, his advice and his inspiration live on, not only in the swimmers he coached, but in their children and their children’s children as well,” Moran told St. George News / Cedar City News on Monday. “His legacy is also compounded by the coaches that came out of his program and provide their swimmers the same solid example, advice, and inspiration.”
“Coach Coston mentored me when he was the president of the Utah Swimming Coaches Association, for which I will always be grateful,” Moran added. “We have all been blessed to know Richard, and the world is a better place because he was here. I join his family and the Utah swimming world in the celebration of his well-lived life.”
Coston’s career started in 1978 when he and his wife, a former BYU swimmer, moved to Cedar City and he became manager of the city’s pool. Coston then started building Iron County School District’s swim program from scratch, beginning by teaching swim lessons and organizing a small recreational club. Under his direction, Cedar High fielded its first swim team in 1981.
Nearly four decades and hundreds of swim meets later, Coston retired as Cedar’s head coach at the end of the 2017-18 season. Later that fall, during the halftime of a Cedar High football game, Coston was formally recognized for his coaching career and contributions, with many of his swimmers past and present joining other friends and family members during the ceremony. He was also inducted as a member of the Cedar High School Athletics Hall of Fame.
Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 20 at the Cedar City Stake Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 155 E. 400 South, Cedar City. Viewings will be held Friday, Aug. 19 at Southern Utah Mortuary, 190 N. 300 West, Cedar City, and at the stake center prior to Saturday’s services, from 9:30-10:30 a.m. To see Coston’s full obituary or to leave condolences online, visit the mortuary’s website.
Updated Aug. 15, 10 a.m. to include comments from John Moran of Utah Swimming Coaches Association.
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