When Wan Abdullah and a few of his Georgia teammates were called out of the Ramsey Center's pool by Jack Bauerle late Thursday afternoon, they were wondering whether it would be one of Bauerle's last acts as their head coach.

But as they dried off and joined some other swimmers assembled before Bauerle and a coaching staff that was trying to hold back smiles, says Abdullah, "you could kind of tell what the answer was going to be."

The answer was no, and life as the Georgia swimmers and divers know it will go on. Bauerle, courted furiously over the last week by the University of Florida to take its head women's swimming coach job, decided Thursday that he would be better served remaining at the university he has loved since he arrived as an undergraduate in 1970.

"It's been a heck of a week," Bauerle said early Thursday evening, sitting in his poolside office. "But I'm glad this has come to fruition."

Bauerle, turning down a lucrative offer from the Gators, will stay in Athens indefinitely - and his salary will be adjusted to make the veteran Georgia coach even more comfortable as he continues to produce winning seasons.

Bauerle said his financial package, which included a base salary of almost $65,000 this year, was sweetened substantially Thursday, as Georgia athletic director Vince Dooley did his part to sway Bauerle's decision with a "significant" raise that Bauerle didn't want to disclose.

But the money, Bauerle said, was far from the most important factor in his decision. He has built powerful programs in Athens, with his women's team especially holding steady as a major player on the national scene. The Lady Bulldogs finished third in the NCAA Championships last month, while the Georgia men's team finished seventh. The prospect of greater success at Georgia carried a lot of weight with Bauerle, who will become the winningest coach in SEC history with two more victories.

"We're proud of where we are right now," he said. "And it would be very difficult to turn our back on some of the things we've accomplished and worked hard to get.

"That's the most important item to me. Certainly, the commitment from our athletic department to us, I think that's very visible through what we're looking at right here, in the Ramsey Center. But whether people believe it or not, you have to have your athletes in mind."

Those athletes had one overriding emotion Thursday: relief. Senior Kara Manglitz, an Athens native, said she had "no doubt" that Bauerle would stay at Georgia, but as the process dragged on, many members of the Georgia team became slightly more nervous.

"I think everybody pretty much felt like I did," said Manglitz. "But I think that the more the media was playing it up...the more things were out there, that made (the possibility of Bauerle leaving) be more in our minds. I think that might have made some people a little bit anxious, but it all worked out for the best."

Dooley, who just a few months ago helped convince football coach Jim Donnan to turn down an alluring offer from the University of North Carolina, said in a statement that he was thrilled with Bauerle's decision to remain in Athens. Dooley is on a brief vacation in Gettysburg, Pa., with one of his grandsons, and received news of Bauerle's decision via telephone.

"I know the offer was flattering and a great testimony to what Jack has been able to accomplish here at Georgia," Dooley's statement read. "Of course, we're extremely pleased he's remaining and will continue to build on the tremendous foundation he's already established."

In the meantime, Bauerle said he is ready to get back to a normal life after a week of staying at his office until well past midnight. Of course, judging from the 20 or 30 phone messages neatly arranged on his desk Thursday, sleep might have to wait another night. Despite the pile of work that awaited him, though, Bauerle said he was confident he had made the right move by staying.

"At some point in time, 20 years down the road, I'd like to be able to sit somewhere in the woods, huntin', and feel real comfortable about the decision," he said with a relieved smile, "and this is the one that I felt would allow me to do that."