[4][5][6] After serving in the Coast Guard, he moved to California, attending college at San Jose State University, where he was conference champion in the 50-meter freestyle before graduating in 1950.

Influencing his future approach to coaching, the U.S. Military was a learning environment that measured and demanded achievement from students and expected them to respect their instructors.

While at Santa Clara, he coached 26 future Olympians including Mark Spitz, Greg Buckingham, Don Schollander, Donna deVarona, Chris von Saltza and Claudia Kolb.

During Haines's 23-year tenure, Santa Clara won a nearly unmatched 43 national club team titles, 26 women's, and 9 men's.

[3][2] In 1960, Haines was selected to coach at the 1960 Summer Olympics, and seven of his swimmers from Santa Clara qualified, including 1960 gold medalists Chris von Saltza, Lynn Burke, George Harrison, and Paul Hait; the first class also included Donna de Varona and Steve Clark, who would win gold at the 1964 Olympics.

[5] In the 1960s, multi-gold medalists Don Schollander and Mark Spitz joined Santa Clara to train with Haines prior to their success at the 1964, 1968, and 1972 Olympics.

[13] He spent most of his retirement in Sacramento, where he enjoyed golf, occasionally returning to Santa Clara, or Palo Alto to watch and attend meets.