Don Driggs was inducted into the Pacific Athletics Hall of Fame after a great career in both swimming and water polo from 1946 to 1950.
Driggs finished his swimming career at Pacific with school records in both the 220 and the 440 freestyle races, which were considered the distance races of that era. He was also a key man on the medley and four-man relay teams which constantly broke school and California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) records. He also filled in for the backstroke, breaststroke and sprint events.
Led by Driggs and fellow Pacific Hall of Famer Bob Steel, Pacific proved to be highly competitive among the top swim teams on the Pacific Coast, including the unique Olympic Club teams, Stanford, California, UCLA and USC. In his first full season at Pacific, Don helped lead the Tigers to the 1947 CCAA championship.
Don was also a high scoring forward on the first Pacific water polo teams from 1948 to 1950. Throughout his aquatics career at Pacific, Driggs served as team captain for both the water polo teams and the swim teams.
After graduating from Pacific in 1950, Don was given a scholarship to join the Olympic Club team that routinely gathered the best former college swimmers and water polo players from the surrounding area. His desire was to train for a spot on the 1952 U.S. Olympic Team, but instead became Director of Parks and Recreation for the city of Bakersfield.
Don married the former Patricia Corwin, Pacific Class of 1948, in Morris Chapel and, after his stint in Bakersfield, he was offered the position of Director of Parks and Recreation for the newly formed city of Fremont which was incorporated in 1956. He was later appointed Assistant City Manager and, after a few years in that position, became the City Manager of Fremont in 1966 and served in that capacity for 15 years until his retirement on August 12, 1980.
