USA Swimming has named Abi Liu (Bellevue Club Swim Team) and Peter Verhoef (Bolles School Sharks) as the head coaches 2025 World Junior Championships, for the junior women’s and men’s teams respectively. This is Verhoef’s first international appointment, although Liu served in this role back in 2023.
Liu coached current breaststroke standout Skyler Smith back when she was the head coach at PEAK Swimming in California, a club she founded back in 2010. She moved from there to Bellevue, Washington, in 2021, but has numerous accolades from her time in California. She was the Pacific Swimming Age Group Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2016, the 2019 Pacific Swimming Coach of the Year and was part of the National Junior Team coaching staff in 2019, 2020 and 2023, and for the senior team in 2024. In addition, she was awarded the ASCA Impact Coach of the Year award in 2024.
Liu had been a successful international swimmer prior to her coaching career, winning silver at the 1994 Asian Games in the 200 backstroke, and had first made the Chinese national team at 13 years of age. At Bellevue Liu coached Piper Enge, another team USA breaststroke standout who competed at the Doha World Championships last year and won World Junior Bronze in 2023.
Verhoef swam at the University of Georgia as an undergrad, and was a finalist at both the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Trials. He made the Worlds team in 2007, being selected as a team captain and won silver at the 2005 World University Games.
He began his coaching journey at Georgia Tech in 2008 as a Volunteer Assistant Swim Coach, before moving into a full-time role at SwimMAC as Assistant coach for Team Elite under David Marsh.
Two years after he joined, he helped Team Elite place five athletes on the US Olympic swim team for London 2012, who won six medals (three gold, three silver) between them. in 2016 that number increased, with Team Elite athletes bringing home eight medals. Not only helping athletes to succeed right at the very top, SwimMAC also sent the largest number of athletes to the 2012 US Olympic Trials, with 41.
He concurrently served as an assistant coach at Division II Queens University from 2013-2015, including during their 2015 NCAA Championship season, and moved into a role as a Senior Coach and High Performance Director for SwimMAC in 2016. There he worked with the Senior 1 program (the club’s top 15-18-year-olds program) and coached athletes to National Junior Team positions and Junior National Championships. The club also produced the most Scholastic All-Americas in the country.
Since 2019 Verhoef has been the head Swimming and Diving Coach at Bolles School in Florida, which has produced notable Olympians such as Caeleb Dressel and Ryan Murphy. The program has gone from strength-to-strength under his leadership, dominating the team standings at Winter Juniors East last year.
Both coaches were involved with the National Junior Team Performance Camp this past April, and of the three coaches chosen (including Senior head Coach Braden Holloway), Greg Meehan said
“Braden, Abi, and Peter have all demonstrated the ability to build trust, lead with clarity, and elevate the people around them. These qualities will serve USA Swimming well as we build momentum towards LA28.”
USA Swimming also commented:
“These coaching appointments align with USA Swimming’s broader strategic vision to support high-potential athletes and staff while preparing for future success at the Olympic level.”
The World Junior Swimming Championships will be held from 19-24 August, 2025 in Romania.
Way to go Abi!! I always loved picking up coaching and athlete motivational tips standing on deck next to you. Well deserved.
Abi was also a standout backstroker at the University of Nevada, Reno before her illustrious coaching career!
GO WOLF PACK!!
Year of the wolf!