Clovis Swim Club Hires California Native Kacy Ota As New Head Age Group Coach

Clovis Swim Club has announced that they’ve hired Kacy Ota as their new head age group coach.

Ota’s had most recently served as the head coach of Conejo Simi Swim Club in Simi Valley, California. Before that, he was their head age group coach while serving as an assistant coach with Cal Lutheran University. Kacy has coached swimmers to LSC championships, Junior and Senior Nationals, and Olympic Trial levels.

Kacy is a native of the Valley, growing up in south Fresno county.  He began club swimming late in his teens, and began coaching early as well, as he began coaching summer league while in high school.

Ota replaces Mark Bennett, who took over as the club’s head coach in August. Bennett was the head age group coach of Clovis Swim Club for 8 years before being promoted to head coach. Prior to his time at Clovis Swim Club, Bennett had several coaching stints with teams in Virginia and Oregon. He joined Clovis Swim Club in 2013, and during that time he has coached several athletes to the state and national level, including a National Age Group (NAG) record holder.

Clovis Swim Club is a silver-medal club houses over 400 athletes in the Fresno, California area. Clovis is most recently known for the development of Claire Tuggle, who represented Team USA at the 2019 FINA World Jr. Championships. Tuggle has since transferred to Santa Maria Swim Club, and most recently advanced to the semifinals in the 200 free at the US Olympic Trials.

Ota will begin coaching with Clovis on Tuesday, September 7. He will be taking over the Advanced Age Group Gold Group, but will be spending some time evaluating the entire Clovis age group program.