South Florida Aquatics' head coach Michael Lohberg, 60, has passed away after a lengthy battle against aplastic anemia, a blood disorder. 

The illness was diagnosed at a time when Lohberg, of Krefeld in Germany, was helping tom prepare Dara Torres for the 2008 Olympic Games. The condition is one that can take the victim quickly and Lohberg told the media at the time he was diagnosed with the condition that he had been told that he may not live through the weekend. 

Lohberg was hospitalised in february after suffering heart failure due to complications from his condition. He spent his last days in a care hospice. 

Former coach at SSF Bonn Lohberg coached St. Croix Dolphins in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Mission Bay Makos in Boca Raton but of late was best known as the man at the helm of the Coral Springs Swim Team in Florida, which recently became the South Florida Aquatic Club. 

Trained in physiology and physical education at the Deutsche Sporthochschule, Lohberg had a degree in maths. He converted that knowledge into world-class coaching, training swimmers at six Olympic Games, including eight athletes at the 2008 Games in Beijing. His charges included national record holders in at least eight countries.

Torres told the media in Miami: "My first memory of Michael was watching him on the deck with his swimmers and seeing what a compassionate, caring man he was. He still sent me workouts while he was in the hospital and I always let him know what was going on in Beijing."

In Florida, John Leonard, executive director of the American Swimming Coaches Association and a fellow coach in the Sunshine State, said: :He had an amazing rapport with his athletes. He was a stroke genius who was able to look at a swimmer in the water and make changes that had a major impact. He loved the sport but he loved kids even more. His loss is a tragedy for swimming internationally and in South Florida."

Michael Lohberg is survived by his wife Birgit (Biggi), daughter Stephanie and son Christopher. Funeral arrangements are pending. A second Coach Michael’s Fight 3K Run/Walk fundraiser is scheduled for May 21 at the Coral Springs Aquatic Complex.