Swim coach found dead in Tennessee

Larry Shofe, the popular swimming coach who led programs at Riverview High School and the Sarasota Family YMCA, was found dead Monday in Tennessee.

Police are investigating the death as a suicide.

Shofe, 55, left Sarasota to take over the Pilot Aquatic Club in Knoxville, Tenn., earlier this month. His body was found in a Corvette outside a home that he rented in Louisville, Tenn.

A hose ran from the tailpipe to the window of the car, with Shofe in the front seat, said Marian O'Briant, a spokeswoman for the Blount County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators plan to conduct an autopsy but do not suspect foul play, O'Briant said.

Colleagues in Tennessee and Sarasota say that the death was a shock and that working for the Pilot Aquatic Club was a dream job for Shofe. He started Aug. 1, met some of his new students and began planning new training regimens.

On Saturday, he attended the dedication of a new aquatic center on the campus of the University of Tennessee -- where Shofe's young students would also train -- to shake hands and mingle with benefactors.

"He seemed thrilled to be here," said Marshall Goldman, an assistant coach at the Pilot Aquatic Club. "He was laughing, schmoozing, having a great time."

His wife, Rosemary, has been trying to sell the couple's homes in Sarasota County and could not reach her husband on Monday. That day, he was supposed to meet Goldman for lunch but never showed up.

Shofe won a lucrative contract with the aquatic club after working for four years in Sarasota. Shofe first resigned from the YMCA job in June, after he could not negotiate a long-term deal with the local program.

Then he changed his mind, saying two weeks later that he would stay. But after taking six local athletes to the Olympic trials in July, Shofe once again announced his resignation.

This time, he had the stability of a four-year contract with the nationally recognized swim program, one that is backed by the University of Tennessee and the Pilot Corp., a national company that operates travel centers and food marts across the nation.

"He took us to a new level, but the security of that contract was important to him," said Carl Weinrich, the YMCA's president and chief executive officer.

Shofe built his reputation as a swim coach at the University of California-Santa Barbara, Old Dominion University and the Bolles School in Jacksonville.

He built Bolles into a national powerhouse, winning 25 state titles. After moving to Southwest Florida in 2004, taking over the Sarasota YMCA Sharks and at Riverview, he again helped push programs into the state and national spotlight.

His teams won YMCA National Short Course Championships and consecutive high school state championships. He coached 300 prep All-Americans and, earlier this year, guided six swimmers to the Olympic trials.

One of those swimmers was Ryan Crete, the Riverview graduate who finished 18th at the trials in the 1,500-meter freestyle.

"He took Ryan from being a kid who simply liked to swim, and helped him develop into a championship competitor who qualified for the Olympic trials," said Crete's father, Randy.

"He really created the glue around the program. He wasn't about creating a superstar individual, but about building a team."

Correspondent Phil Denis contributed to this story.