While bicycling along Highway 12 in Napa, the couple was struck by an alleged drunken driver. Liu was killed and his girlfriend, 26-year-old Jill Mason, was sent to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with severe head trauma and a severed spine.

The accident has sent shock waves through the community of hundreds of swimmers that Liu coached, as well as the many beneficiaries of his charitable work, including the Friends of the Fremont Pool.

"Alan Liu was a keen, helpful supporter of the pool," says Holly Lofgren, former chairwoman of Friends of the Fremont Pool. "I'm grieved that he's no longer with us, and I'm grieved by the way he was killed." Lofgren says that Liu, a Mountain View resident, was extremely helpful during the campaign to get the pool constructed, coordinating fundraisers such as the Swim-A-Thon.

"There aren't many people who are good at what they do, and they're a great person as well," Lofgren says.

The approximately 250 swimmers on the Mountain View Masters are equally as shocked by Liu's death. "He was usually the first one I talked to in the morning," says Anita Rosen, a member of the Masters, who regularly attended Liu's early-morning practices. He would coach at 5, 6 and 7 a.m., and then go to his job as an engineer with Applied Materials. Liu held a bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master's degree from Stanford.

Despite his busy schedule, he never skimped his attention on his swimmers.

"He was one of those quiet guys who got things done," Rosen says. At the request of his team, he set up a water-polo league and triathlon training and also organized happy hours for his team.

Rosen says the perfect example of his zeal was the time he spent placing all of his swimmers' times on the website—a long, tedious task. "The difference between a good class and a bad class is always made by the teacher," Rosen says. "That's exactly how it worked with Alan."

Services for Liu were held April 25 at Stanford, and a trust fund has been set up in his memory. To contribute, contact the Alan Liu Memorial Fund, c/o Bank of the West, 501 Castro St., Mountain View, CA 94041. The Mountain View Masters website, which provides updates on Jill Mason's condition, is www.mvm.org.