Earlier, he had been a gifted collegiate athlete at Bridgewater College and had coached field sports in Tennessee and Virginia High Schools.

[3] At age six, Bussard started swimming in a creek bed near his home in rural Virginia, but he showed a far greater interest in field sports.

At Virginia's Bridgewater College, he was a track and field National AAU All-Around Champion in 1952, and was All-State playing football.

Bussard won the 1969 SEC Championship with a team composed entirely of Freshmen, but he may have preferred younger minds to teach his innovative approach.

Team building was a focus, and he cared greatly about details, encouraging his swimmers to shave their heads before important meets.

When including his High School coaching, his overall career record was a 252-30 in dual meets with a particularly noteworthy winning percentage of .926.

[14] In 1989, the year of his retirement as coach, the University of Tennessee Indoor Aquatic Pool was named for Bussard to honor his legacy.