Loring still going strong in 34th year as women's tennis coach

A tennis ball reflects off a pair of dark sunglasses as a head swivels from side to side, tracking the ball’s every move.

Now in his 34th year as IU’s women’s tennis coach, Lin Loring is simply doing what he loves: coaching and teaching collegiate athletes. 

After starting as a coach at the University of California-Santa Barbara, Loring was offered the chance to coach in Bloomington, a chance he has made the most of, relishing it all the while.

During his time at IU, Loring’s numbers speak for themselves.

He created a women’s Division-I record of 748 wins while graduating every four-year tennis player he has coached.

Because Loring is known for his rigid structure and attention to detail on the court, the players have had to adapt.

“He’s probably the most organized person I’ve ever met,” senior Charlotte Martin said. “Our practices are timed down to the second.”

But the demand for organization isn’t purely personal.

It’s also in the interest of the students, according to associate head coach Ramiro Azcui.

“He really cares about the student athlete,” Azcui said. “He is very organized. I think that structure helps the student athletes, and they become organized throughout their college years.”

A man who has led the IU program to 16 Big Ten titles, 26 NCAA tournament appearances and a national championship, Loring said his biggest feat might have come off the court.

The Hoosiers have won five consecutive Adam Herbert Cups, an award given to the IU
athletic program with the highest GPA each semester.

This hasn’t gone unnoticed, even by the team’s newest members.

Freshman Kayla Fujimoto has already recognized Loring’s penchant for seeing his players as more than tennis enthusiasts.

“He’s not just tennis, tennis, tennis. So it’s really nice getting my academics taken care of,” she said.

Loring does his best to connect with the players and form bonds that last a lifetime. The tennis program sends out newsletters each Christmas and has reunions in an effort to stay in touch.

Loring even gave the eulogy for one of his former student athletes who lost a battle with cancer last January.

The combination of leadership, both between the lines and out, has made a profound impact on all the players who have gotten the chance to play under his tutelage.
“It’s been great,” Martin said. “It’s been a really good experience.”

Martin said she knows her life will change dramatically once she graduates next spring.

“It’ll be different,” she said. “You get used to him after four years in Bloomington, so it’ll be sad.”

Loring said he has no plans of leaving his position any time soon, saying retirement has yet to creep into his mind.

“I haven’t really thought about it,” he said. “I definitely will enjoy retirement, but no, I haven’t thought about what’s going to happen when I’m done here.”

Loring did say he wouldn’t mind entering athletic administration after he is finished coaching but that he doesn’t foresee it happening in the near future.

“I’ve got a 12 year old and a 9 year old that I’ve got to put through college,” he said lightheartedly. “So that’s the main thing that keeps me going right now, besides the fact that I still enjoy it and still enjoy going to work.”

When Loring moved to Bloomington more than three decades ago, he said he knew this was where he wanted to be.

“It’s a great college town,” he said. “I always thought it would be a great place to raise a family. Although I didn’t have a family for the first 20 years, I thought it’d be a great place to get married and have kids. I don’t really like big cities, so it was a perfect fit for me.”