Enthusiastic and knowledgeable. A class act. Self-confident. These are the words that colleagues, former coaches, and students use to describe new athletic director Mike Sutton '76. Sutton, former CMS swim and water polo coach, assumed the administrative responsibilities of overseeing the athletic department during the spring semester of the 1999-2000 academic year, when then-current athletic director David Wells '72 stepped down due to illness. But it wasn't until this fall that Sutton and the College administration considered the position on a long-term basis.

"To do the job well," Sutton explains, "I had to give up coaching, and I wanted to be certain. I wasn't sure how it would feel. I do miss the daily contact with the swimmers, but the opportunity to become closer to all of our programs was enticing."

Taking with him his memories and coaching accomplishments, Sutton opted for the new job, and in March the term acting was dropped from his title. "It's been a positive and uplifting move for me," he says. "I think I have something to offer in this position, and I feel a responsibility to the program." And he doesn't consider his new job far-removed from coaching, saying, "Now my team is the athletic department. Perhaps I can frame the position as head coach of the department."

Sutton has had a strong history with CMC ever since Coach Dez Farnady recruited him from Upland High School for the swim and water polo teams. Farnady was impressed by Sutton's focus. "In high school his goal was to go to college and become a teacher," he says. "He was one of the few athletes to have a clear goal and to get there." Sutton was placed with students who had stronger athletic backgrounds. "He consistently came in high," Farnady says, "but it was difficult for him because he wasn't the top guy in his event. He lasted because he was tough. He hung in with the top guys and remained competitive until he became a solid member of the team."

Sutton's personality and leadership skills proved an asset in water polo, and he received the most improved player award as a freshman and sophomore, and was named First Team All-SCIAC as a junior and a senior. Bill Arce, the first CMS athletic director, says Sutton provided considerable leadership to the aquatics program as a student. His role as captain of the swim team in his senior year is proof of this. That same year he also received All-SCIAC and All-American honors on the swim team.

After graduating in 1976, Sutton went on to study communications at California State University, Fullerton, and Cal Poly Pomona, and earned his teaching credentials in history and social sciences. In 1979 he returned to CMC as an aquatics coach.

Arce and Farnady praise Sutton for being a remarkable recruiter. Sutton got a taste for recruiting as a student, helping Farnady attract swimmers from Upland High. As a coach who is also an alumnus, he could easily sell the benefits of a Claremont education.

Enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and self-confident is how co-workers describe athletic director Mike Sutton.