'An Outpouring of Love for a Living Legend'

UC San Diego Honors Masters Swimming Icon Ronald 'Sickie' Marcikic with Canyonview Pool Naming

By Shawn Cyr
Assistant Marketing Director

Ronald “Sickie” Marcikic has been a mainstay at Canyonview Aquatic Center for basically as long as anyone can remember. Flipping through photos through the years — many of them sepia-toned and endearingly grainy — Sickie is a constant. Fashion trends have come and gone and come again, and yet Sickie’s trademark mismatched socks and Hawaiian shirts are always in vogue at Canyonview.

So it’s only appropriate that Sickie’s name is now carved into the facility itself.

Surrounded by 150 friends, Masters Swimmers, colleagues, and family — not to mention the colleagues and swimmers who have become family — Sickie was feted on Saturday, April 18, with a pool-naming ceremony in his honor. 

“The celebration of the pool naming almost brought me to tears,” says Sickie, who has been with UC San Diego Recreation for more than four decades. “There was a great turnout of current and past swimmers, plus many swimmers I haven’t seen in years. Truly, a day I will remember forever.  Thank you, UC San Diego!”

Standing in front of a new cement tribute etched with his name that welcomes swimmers to the pool area, Sickie posed for photos and relived memories with UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs & Campus Life Alysson Satterlund, and countless others who have been instructed — and loved — by Sickie over the years.

“Naming the pool at Canyonview, the Ronald ‘Sickie’ Marcikic Pool is a testament to Coach Sickie’s dedication and passion for swimming that has created a bridge between the university and the San Diego community,” Recreation Director Richard Mylin says. “Sickie has been teaching, encouraging, challenging, and celebrating our swimmers for more than four decades, and it is that legacy that will forever be celebrated with the naming of the pool.”

As longtime head of the Masters Swimming program, Sickie has forged a passionate community committed to self-improvement, fitness, and each other. Arriving at the pool in the early hours each morning, Sickie has never — never! — repeated a workout during his Masters Swimming sessions. The lessons he’s taught go far beyond improving a backstroke or mastering the art of the flip turn. Wearing a gray shirt depicting pink flamingos and cutouts of Sickie’s smiling face, Aquatics Director Jason Dillon says Sickie’s contributions are truly immeasurable.

“When an entire community rallies to honor a man who has spent 43 years shaping the very waves he loves, it feels like witnessing history in the making,” Dillon says. “The dedication of the Ronald ‘Sickie’ Marcikic Pool was more than a ceremony; it was an outpouring of love for a living legend. And as we christened the water that has defined his career, Sickie’s pride and gratitude shone brighter than any ripple, reminding us all of the lasting impact one passionate soul can have on a place so many of us call home.”