Eight Empty Beer Cans in Kimball’s Car : Diver Reportedly Devastated by Accident That Killed Two

Sheriff’s deputies found eight empty beer containers in the car of Olympic diver Bruce Kimball, who reportedly told investigators he began drinking about nine hours before he lost control of the automobile and ran through a group of teen-agers.

Two people were killed and six were injured in the accident which, according to a scenario pieced together by the Tampa Tribune, capped a day that began with practice at the Brandon Tennis & Swim Center.

Kimball, charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, told investigators he had four beers before the accident Monday. The Tribune reported Thursday that the 1984 Olympic silver medalist and two companions started drinking in a bar around 2 p.m. and continued off and on until just before the 10:56 p.m. accident.

In between a stop for a pitcher of beer at Happy Days, a local bar, and the crash that killed Kevin Gossic and Robbie Bedell, Kimball and fellow divers Chuck Wade, 23, and Colleen (Cokey) Smith, 23, reportedly played pool at the bar, drank beer at two homes and purchased single beers at a convenience store a mile from where the accident occurred.

Investigators found eight empty beer containers inside Kimball’s sports car, and an unopened can of beer was in the passenger seat, still cold, the newspaper reported.

Sheriff’s deputies estimate that Kimball was traveling 70 to 90 m.p.h. down Culbreath Road, an unlighted dead-end road. Wade lives in the southernmost home on the street, and Kimball said he was planning to drop him off when he missed the turn at the driveway, clipped a parked car and plowed through a group of 30 to 40 teen-agers gathered at a meeting place called “the spot.”

Although Kimball said he was driving 40 to 45 m.p.h., investigators said the car traveled 388 feet with the brakes locked and the bent right front axle gouging the pavement along the way.

Later, Kimball, a former University of Michigan star, asked how many people were killed. Told that two were dead, Kimball fell to his knees in tears, the Tribune reported.

After leaving the bar, investigators said Kimball and friends drove to the mobile home his father, Michigan diving Coach Dick Kimball, is renting for the summer. The elder Kimball, a three-time Olympic coach, has run a summer diving camp in Brandon for more than 20 years.

Eugene D. Van Der Wall, a sheriff’s traffic homicide investigator, said the diver acknowledged that he and his companions drank more beer there, then went to the home of other friends. The investigator said Kimball and Wade denied drinking any more until around 10 p.m., when the three stopped at a convenience store on the way home.

Kimball, one of the nation’s top performers in platform diving, is still eligible to compete in the U.S. Olympic trials at Indianapolis Aug. 17-21. A spokesman at the Brandon Swim & Tennis Center said the diver has been secluded at the family’s mobile home and would have nothing to say.

“He’s really bad off,” said Joe Greenwell, assistant diving coach at the center where Kimball’s father operates his summer camp. “He’s not taking it very well. He’s going to need a lot of help.

“Right now, his father is the only person he can talk to. His father said he’s been hyperventilating, blacking out. Bruce can hardly control his own behavior. He can hardly take care of himself. He might not even dive again.”

Kimball was given a blood-alcohol test after the accident, but authorities were still awaiting results from a state laboratory.