We're fortunate to have three great coaches on the Seals. They're young and enthusiastic but very accomplished both as swimmers themselves and as coaches. Above all, they love the sport and communicate that commitment to every swimmer at every level.
Jared joined the Seals in November, 2004. Most recently he had been Head Coach at Catherine McCauley from 2002-2005, twice leading the team to a top-three finish in the state. Before that he coached at Western Albermarle High School in Virginia, creating their swim program and leading the girls to the division title and the boys to runner-up in their team's first year — and earning co-Coach of the Year . He was Head Coach for the 11-15 age group at Charlottesville Youth Aquatic Club and qualified numerous swimmers for the YMCA National Meet. He was also an assistant coach for the senior team, which had a Y-National Champion and a number of All-Americans.
Jared had a distinguished career as a competitive swimmer himself. He qualified for the 2000 Olympic Trials (in two events), Junior National and Senior National, and was an All-American (six events). He was a four-year varsity swimmer at the University of Virginia, where he was the 2000 champion in the 100 Fly in the 2000 Atlantic Coast Conference and a member of the 2000 ACC All Conference Team. Jared received his BA in Sociology from UVA in 2000.
Importantly, Jared has a long history with the Seals, where he was inspired as a young swimmer by his great coaches. This experience really led Jared to find his own career in coaching others.
Jared's coaching philosophy is to provide a hard-working, competitive environment with a focus on a perfect race and stroke technique. This approach is the result of his years of swimming and being coached at an Olympic level, training and competing against Olympic athletes including world record holder Ed Moses.
But Jared knows how to make sure everyone has fun while learning and developing, too. When he's not at the pool he enjoys surfing, snowboarding, hiking and traveling. Here are Jared's anwers to a few questions we asked:
- What is your favorite swimming event and why?
"The 200 free, because it is a true test of mental and physical toughness." - What's your favorite food?
"Pizza." - What's your favorite season?
"Fall." - What's your favorite thing to do on a Sunday?
"Surfing!" - What's in the trunk of your car?
"Flip flops, towels, jumper cables, and a straw hat." - Your words of inspiration to a young swimmer would be?
"If you work hard and stay focused you can achieve anything in not only swimming, but in life."
John joined the Seals in the summer of 2005. Before the Seals he was Head Coach at the Lynchburg VA YMCA where he sent two swimmers to Sectionals and six swimmers to the YMCA Nationals. In 2001 John received the co-Coach of the Year Award from Western Albermarle High School in Virginia, eventually becoming Head Coach. Before that, John was the coach for the Charlottesville YMCA Aquatic Club where he had two top-16 age group swimmers.
From 1986 to 1995 John swam for the Lynchburg VA YMCA where he was a YMCA National swimmer. He also qualified for the Junior Nationals in 1995.
John's coaching philosophy focuses on technique. He strongly believes that you should learn to swim correctly before you learn to swim fast! To that end, John brings a very strong technical background to the team.
When John is not focusing on the Seals' swimming technique, he enjoys "disc golf" and stamp collecting.