See all of our 2025 Swammy Awards here.
Ron Aitken, Kyle Goller, Jim Nickell… there are so many U.S. club coaches who guided top juniors to incredible swims in 2025, making this one of the most difficult awards to decide.
Following a season that produced one U.S. World Championship team member, two World Junior Championship selections, and 15 National Age Group records, Steve Morsilli and the Pleasanton Seahawks staff earn the Swammy Award for U.S. Club Coach of the Year.
While best known for his work with 16-year-old prodigy Luka Mijatovic over the past few years, Morsilli also guided both Tim Wu and Liberty Clark onto the U.S. World Junior Championship roster.
At the U.S. National Championships, which doubled as the selection meet for various international competitions, Wu finished 25th in the 200 free (1:49.18) and 29th in the 100 free (50.08). He entered the meet with personal bests of 51.12 in the 100 free and 1:50.30 in the 200 free, and his performance in the 200 free earned him the second roster spot for World Juniors. At that meet, he made the semifinals, finishing 16th in 1:50.25.
Wu is one of the top butterfly/IM/freestyle specialists in the class of 2026. We ranked him #6 on our Way Too Early list of top recruits for fall 2026, and he committed to the California Golden Bears in October 2024.
Clark entered the season as a newcomer to the Pleasanton Seahawks, after training for most of her career with the Crow Canyon Country Club Sharks in Danville, California, before the teams merged. Clark was a two-sport high school athlete who also played volleyball for Chico High School and Club Uptempo, where at 5’10” she competed as an opposite.
She joined the team in early 2025 and took a sizable leap forward. Her 50 free improved from 25.30 to 25.21, her 100 free from 54.98 to 54.41, and her 200 free from 2:02.06 to 2:00.84.
At the U.S. National Championships, which doubled as the selection meet for World Juniors, she posted lifetime bests of 54.57 in the 100 free (19th) and 2:00.84 in the 200 free (26th), qualifying her as a relay-only swimmer.
She continued dropping time at Junior Nationals in August, lowering her career bests to 25.10 in the 50 free and 54.41 in the 100 free while winning the 100 free and finishing runner-up in the 50 free.
At World Juniors, she proved pivotal, appearing on four different relays and collecting two golds and two silvers in her first international meet.
She kicked off the action in the girls’ 4×100 free relay, splitting 54.48 in prelims to earn a spot on the finals squad. She elevated her game when it counted, logging 53.85 as she joined Rylee Erisman (53.41), Julie Mishler (54.65), and Lily King (53.62) in crushing the World Junior Record with a time of 3:35.53, eclipsing the legendary 3:36.19 mark set by Taylor Ruck, Penny Oleksiak, Rebecca Smith, and Kayla Sanchez in 2017.
Clark also contributed a 54.36 split in the prelims of the mixed 4×100 free relay, which went on to win gold in finals. She added a 2:00.18 leg in the 4×200 free relay prelims, helping the team to silver in the final, and anchored the mixed 4×100 medley relay prelims in 54.61, with that relay also earning silver in finals.
Though no longer with the Seahawks, Clark is off to a great start at Indiana University, having already lowered her personal bests to 24.67, 54.03, and 1:58.18, along with NCAA top five times of 21.54 in the 50 free, 46.83 in the 100 free (a Hoosier school record), and 1:41.27 in the 200 free.
And of course, there’s Mijatovic, who was our Swammy Award winner for 17-18 Age Group Swimmer of the Year. His year featured too many milestone swims to summarize briefly: he set 14 individual NAG Records throughout 2025. For a full month-by-month breakdown of his record-setting season, click here.
Morsilli founded the Pleasanton Seahawks in December 1982 and serves as Head Coach/CEO and Senior-Elite Group Coach. He swam competitively and played water polo in the Hayward area for eight years at the high school and collegiate levels. He graduated from Golden Gate University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business in 1975.
Honorable Mentions:
- Kyle Goller (Laker Swim) – Goller coached the Erisman siblings to several standout performances in the pool throughout the year. Rylee was one of the stars at the World Junior Championships in Otopeni in late August, racking up a historic eight medals at the competition, headlined by her performances in the 100 free. The 16-year-old broke the World Junior Championship and U.S. girls’ 15-16 NAG record in three straight swims at the meet, culminating in clocking 52.79 in the 100 free final, putting her just nine one-hundredths shy of the World Junior Record set by Penny Oleksiak in 2016. Erisman’s swim in the final made the girls’ 15-16 NAG record nearly a half-second faster than the current 17-18 record, which stands at 53.25 from Simone Manuel in 2014. The performance also landed Erisman a spot on the 2026 U.S. Pan Pac roster, and would’ve been fast enough to win bronze at the World Championships. Erisman also won individual gold at World Juniors in the 50 free (24.70) and picked up silver in the 200 free (1:56.70), while she added five medals on relays, including leading off the girls’ 4×100 free relay that broke the World Junior Record in 3:35.53. In 2025, she ranks 5th in the world in the 100 free, 23rd in the 100 back (59.39), 26th in the 200 free (1:56.76) and 27th in the 50 free (24.69). Most recently, she clocked 1:40.93 in the 200-yard free at the Speedo Winter Junior Championships – East in Indianapolis, shattering Katie Ledecky’s girls’ 15-16 NAG record by more than a second. Her brother, Ryan, now a freshman at Cal, had a huge showing at Nationals, highlighted by his third-place finish in the 400 free. In a head-to-head battle with Luka Mijatovic for second, he clocked a time of 3:46.01, breaking Larsen Jensen‘s 17-18 NAG Record of 3:46.08 set nearly 21 years earlier. Erisman entered the meet with a career best of 3:48.57, and improved that slightly to 3:48.19 in the prelims. He also touched 15th in the 200 free (1:47.52) and fifth in the 800 free (7:54.64), dropping 77 one-hundredths in the former and nearly four and a half seconds in the latter. He went on to secure double bronze in the 400 free (3:47.52) and 800 free (7:51.74) at the World University Games, taking another 2.90 seconds off his 800 best. He also swam a prelims leg of the 4×200 free relay, which went on to win gold.
- Jim Nickell (Bend Swim Club) – Nickell coached this year’s 17-18 Boys’ Swimmer of the Year, Campbell McKean, to a huge breakout performance across the breaststroke events. The 18-year-old was simply on fire at U.S. Nationals, where he kicked things off in the 50 breast. In prelims, he sliced a few tenths off his lifetime best with a 27.14, advancing to finals as the co-top seed alongside Andrew. When it counted, McKean clocked 26.90 to out-touch Andrew (26.92) and book his ticket to the World Championships, becoming the fifth-fastest American in history. Next up was the 100, and with Nic Fink not entering the competition, the U.S. was in dire need of someone to step up. He raced to a lifetime-best 1:00.18 in prelims, situating himself just under four-tenths behind top seed Josh Matheny (59.80), before slaughtering his best time in finals. He dropped more than a second to clock 58.96, breaking Michael Andrew’s National Age Group Record for 17-18 boys (59.82) by 86 one-hundredths to beat out Matheny by 22 one-hundredths. McKean capped off the meet with a 5.72-second drop in the 200 breast, swimming 2:12.36 in prelims before finishing sixth in the final with a time of 2:11.13. At Worlds, McKean was one of the swimmers hindered by illness, ultimately touching 15th in the 100 breast (59.74) and 24th in the 50 breast (27.32). Despite the setback, he contributed a 59.07 breast leg to help the mixed 4×100 medley relay finish 10th and walked away a silver medalist courtesy of his 59.32 breast split on the prelims of the men’s 4×100 medley relay.
- Ron Aitken (Sandpipers of Nevada) – Aitken, the 2019, 2021, and 2022 winner of this award, coached Claire Weinstein to another blockbuster year. Weinstein was the lone junior female to win an individual medal at the 2025 World Championships, snagging bronze in the women’s 200 free in a time of 1:54.67. Weinstein produced the three fastest 200 free swims of her career in Singapore, also clocking 1:54.69 to lead the semi-finals and then leading off the U.S. women’s 4×200 free relay in 1:54.83 as they went on to win silver and set a new American Record. Weinstein’s swim in the 200 free final narrowly missed the U.S. 17-18 National Age Group Record of 1:54.43, set by Katie Ledecky in 2016. Weinstein’s standout performances in the 200 free at Worlds came even though she was presumed to be one of the swimmers ailing from the illness impacting the U.S. team in Singapore, having scratched the 400 free and then adding nearly 20 seconds to place 17th in the 800 free. At the U.S. National Championships in June, Weinstein really broke out across all distances, winning the 200 free (1:54.92) over Ledecky while setting best times en route to taking 2nd in the 400 free (4:00.05), 800 free (8:19.67) and 1500 free (16:01.96), and adding an eighth-place finish in the 100 free (53.72) with another PB. In 2025, Weinstein ranked third in the world in the 200 free, fifth in the 400 free, eighth in the 800 free, 10th in the 1500 free and 25th in the 100 free.
PAST WINNERS:
- 2024 Swammy: Chris Plumb, Carmel Swim Club
- 2023 Swammy: Chris Plumb, Carmel Swim Club
- 2022 Swammy: Ron Aitken, Sandpipers of Nevada
- 2021 Swammy: Ron Aitken, Sandpipers of Nevada
- 2020 Swammy: Bruce Marchionda, TAC Titans
- 2019 Swammy: Ron Aitken, Sandpipers of Nevada
- 2014 Swammy: Bruce Gemmell, Nation’s Capital Swim Club
- 2013 Club/High School Coach of the Year: John Flanagan, Nation’s Capital Swim Club
- 2012 Club/High School Coach of the Year: Sergio Lopez, Bolles School
I swam for Steve Morsilli from 1986 to 1990 and went on to earn a full ride at the University of Hawaii. I continued swimming on my own throughout the years. Later on in my life I competed in 17 half Ironmans and one full Ironman. I was typically top 3, if not first out of the water (in my age group). I earned a spot at 3 World Championships for the 70.3 Ironman event. I give Steve so much of that credit. He is an outstanding coach. The discipline and dedication I gained out of swimming under him has carried over into my entire life. Congratulations coach!! Excellent job!!
Not impressed by the choice on this one.
Wow, no “honorable mention” for Mike Deboor (Lakeside Swim Club– Louisville, KY)? What he continues to do year after year seems to go unrecognized. This year alone– Charlotte Crush (#1/2 Class of ’26 girl and US Junior National Team member), Wilson York (#1 Class of ’28 boy), Thomas Mercer (Now at UVA– was Top 10 recruit in Class of ’25), and many other top 30-50 recruits in their respective classes. The depth of the talent he develops each year is right on par with Carmel, who is consistently recognized as evident by Plumb winning Coach of the Year in two recent years.
Way T GOOOOO Coach Steve
You’re the best.
Looking at the club’s Google review and the fact that their official instagram blocks everyone who mentioned Steve’s misconduct, I doubt how much value this award has (completely agree with all other awards)!
Preach! It is unreal what this guy gets away with. Where is SafeSports when you need it?
Don’t twist things by picking up garbage from the Internet.
Coach Steve is a professional in his field; swimmers and parents respect and appreciate him.