Altus swimming coach Linda Wiginton has been named to the Oklahoma Coaches Association
2023 Hall-of-Fame class.
Wiginton, who has taught at Altus Public Schools for 48 years and coached swimming for 42 years, has coached 33 All-State swimmers, 18 individual state champions and 12 relay titles while coaching both teams.
Wiginton has coached four boys team state championships (2010, 2015, 2016 and 2022) and a combined seven state runners-up. She has been named Oklahoma Swim Coach of the Year seven times, and in 2019, she was awarded the Outstanding Service Award from the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association.
The all-time dual records of Wiginton’s teams: boys 679-116-0; girls 672-195-2.
“My favorite memories are how excited the swimmers get when they win state, but also how excited someone gets when they get a stroke technique and improve personally,” Wiginton said.
The Linda Wiginton Aquatic Facility was dedicated in her name by the City of Altus in 2016. Wiginton has been married to husband Larry for 49 years. They celebrate their 50th anniversary in May. Larry has been Linda’s “biggest cheerleader and the wind beneath [her] wings.” They live on a farm with “lots of furry four-legged friends.”
Linda and Larry have two sons, Chad and Dallas; daughters-in-law Ericka and Logan; and two grandchildren, Kade and Krosby. Michael Shive, who has been Wiginton’s assistant coach since 2009, and his wife, Kirstie, are “just like family.”
When she isn’t coaching or teaching, Wiginton enjoys her annual summer trips to the Caribbean to swim, snorkel and “gaze at that gorgeous turquoise water.”
“I am so thankful for the support from my family, my friends, my Oklahoma swimming family, Altus Public Schools, our athletic department and the City of Altus for so many years,” Wiginton said.
Recently, Wiginton has been inspired by the words of Altus High School senior Goerge Socha, “when the pace clock reaches its interval, choose to push off the wall.”
“I have just kept pushing off that pool wall (figuratively), and the years have flown by while I
have been blessed by my savior, Jesus Christ, to do a job I absolutely love,” Wiginton said.
