2013 Swammys: US Coach of the Year, David Marsh

SwimMAC Carolina was already named the junior-level club team of year for the 2013 Swammys, and the man behind it all receives our overall U.S. Coach of the Year award for 2013 as well.  Dave Marsh doesn’t just create workouts or take splits or critique strokes.  He’s much more than your average swim coach.  Having the title of CEO for one of the premier USA club swim teams in the country is no easy task.  But Marsh lives up to his elite title, and makes it look easy with the results speaking for themselves.

When Marsh was first granted the position, CEO and Director of Coaching, in 2007 he wanted things to be different.  With his three children already in the realm of competitive swimming, he didn’t like what he was seeing.  He wanted explanation and reasoning to go into swimming.  And with that, he’s built one of (if not the only) premiere swim clubs in the country.

One of Marsh’s additions to the club was the creation of Team Elite.  This select group of individuals, ranging from Olympians to post grad athletes and even select high school swimmers, participate in unique training that will aid in them reaching national and international success.  So far, the stats show that it’s working.

Recently, the pro group crushed meet and American records at Winter Nationals.  With most of the records coming in the form of relays, Nick Thoman (a star of Team Elite) garnered two individual ARs in the 50 and 100 yard backstroke.  While the results speak for themselves, just watching the relays the Team Elite group put together was down right exciting.  They’re sending the sport of professional swimming in the right direction.

Three swimmers from the Elite squad were also able to take part in the Duel in the Pool. Micah Lawrence, Cullen Jones, and Kathleen Baker, were able to secure a win for the US in what was one of the most exciting meets the swimming world has seen in a while.

The age groupers of SwimMAC have also made quite a name for themselves after an impressive Winter Juniors.  Throughout the meet, there was a sea of blue and orange in A finals, on the podium, and on deck in general. SwimMAC brought a sizeable group to the meet and ended up winning the girl’s division.  While bringing home the hardware, SwimMAC rewrote the record books with a slew of new NAGs.  In addition, the age groupers helped win SwimMAC its third consecutive Club Excellence title by a whopping 12,000 points.

Being the CEO of anything is never easy, but with the accolades just pouring in for SwimMAC Carolina, it’s clear that Marsh was the right man for the job, and a clear winner for the 2013 Swammy. He’s got a top-to-bottom program, pros-to-age groupers, and they’re all excelling. Perhaps the only disappointment out of Mecklenburg County is that we didn’t get to see the beginning of the Marsh-Lochte relationship after Lochte’s untimely injury, but 2014 will have plenty of time for that.

Honorable Mentions:

Mike Bottom and Bruce Gemmel both produced superstars this year.  While Bottom’s was in the form of an NCAA Championship team, Gemmel’s was more in the form of the world’s best female distance swimmer.  2013 was the breakout year for both coaches.

Bottom had perhaps the most event-balanced program in the country in 2013. The renowned sprint genius, through a collaboration with his distance coach Josh White, had a fantastic distance program, where Connor Jaeger, among others, set the world on fire.

Katie Ledecky had a stellar year posting World Records in the 800 and 1500 meter free, and also coached one of the bright young stars in the country Carsten Vissering, and along with Georgia coach Jack Bauerle combined to coach his son Andrew Gemmell to the 2013 World Championships.

Bauerle gets our 3rd honorable mention. His Bulldogs had a whale of a year in 2013 – the women won the 2013 NCAA Championship, both teams had great falls of recruiting, and the Bulldogs were out en force in Barcelona. He put a total of 6 swimmers on the 2013 U.S. World Championships team, including several breakout performers. That list included Gemmell, Megan Romano, Shannon Vreeland, Jordan Mattern, Nic Fink, and silver-medalist Chase Kalisz. Recent controversy not-withstanding, Bauerle got it done in 2013 in a big way, even with his best-known swimmer Allison Schmitt having a down year.