Today on the SwimSwam Podcast we have Jeff Pease, a name that has been synonymous with San Diego swimming for over 40 years. Jeff is the founder, head coach, and team owner of North Coast Aquatics (NCA), one of the first coach-owned swim clubs in the United States, established back in 1979. What started as a bold idea has grown into the premier program in San Diego, consistently earning Gold and Silver Medal status from USA Swimming.
Jeff’s swimming roots go back to Toledo, Ohio, where he was an age-group standout and a high school All-American in two events. He continued his career at Stanford on scholarship, graduating in 1975 with a degree in Psychology before diving deep into sports psychology, exercise physiology, and education. Those academic chops shaped the coaching philosophy that has defined NCA for decades.
The results speak for themselves. Jeff has helped place more than 250 swimmers into colleges and universities nationwide, and he’s coached over 270 Junior and Senior National athletes along with more than 30 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifiers. He’s been on USA National Team staffs, led Junior National squads to Sydney, Melbourne, and Barcelona, and coached athletes who reached the very top of the sport — from Olympic gold (Kurt Grote, 1996) to Pan Am gold (Tim Siciliano, 1999), World Championship silver (Eric Hedlin, 2013), and Pan Pac silver (Kendyl Stewart, 2014).
Jeff’s influence isn’t limited to age-group and elite athletes. From 1996 to 2013, he directed the City of Carlsbad Masters program, guiding Masters National Champions and world-ranked triathletes, including Hawaii Ironman legend Paula Newby-Fraser and Olympic triathlon silver medalist Michellie Jones.
In the SwimSwam Podcast dive deeper into the sport you love with insider conversations about swimming. Hosted by Coleman Hodges and Gold Medal Mel Stewart, SwimSwam welcomes both the biggest names in swimming that you already know, and rising stars that you need to get to know, as we break down the past, present, and future of aquatic sports.
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Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com
Opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the interviewed guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the hosts, SwimSwam Partners, LLC and/or SwimSwam advertising partners.
can yall please beg coach jeff to let the senior boys back into the locker rooms again 😭🙏
Jeff is a GREAT COACH and helps so many in the Coaching community. He is a difference maker over the past 40 years in Swimming. Awesome podcast and longtime Coaching Friend
Love these interviews with coaches talking about the business of swimming. Another banger here.
Surprising to me how few coach-owned teams there are. While there can be problems with coach-owned, I’ve seen way more problems with parent-board run, or organization-owned teams. More than once I’ve seen a YMCA decide overnight it doesn’t want to have a swim team anymore, and then it is game over.
Can’t help but notice how Jeff, like previous interviewees talks about the value of rec league summer swimming as an on-ramp to club swimming. And for all the problems with the lack of growth in club swimming, rec league continues to grow. Sure would love to see USA Swimming reach out to rec leagues with… Read more »
Probably requested in the past…but what is the intro song? Solid interview Mel. Thank you!
Great interview! Jeff definitely downplayed the extent of recruiting when Team Elite popped up, things got pretty ugly.
Another recent success from the club is Noah Jaffe with silver at the Paralympics in Paris
I’m one of those swimmers who left an established club to swim for Coach Marsh at another club amassing elites (LV Gold). I did it under the guidance of Dennis Pursley, USA Swimming’s first national team director in 1990. (After Team USA’s weak OGs in 1988 the USAs Nat Team Dir position was established). I’m aware of the fact that attracting and amassing talent on the club level can cause tension, and I wanted to hear from Jeff Pease on the topic. I feel like Jeff represented the challenges of the San Diego LSC pretty well, and he stated his philosophy on club coaching clearly–why he’s been successful over four decades.