Competitor Coach of the Month: John Roy

Competitor Coach of the Month is a recurring SwimSwam feature shedding light on a U.S.-based coach who has risen above the competition. As with any item of recognition, Competitor Coach of the Month is a subjective exercise meant to highlight one coach whose work holds noteworthy context – perhaps a coach who was clearly in the limelight, or one whose work fell through the cracks a bit more among other stories. If your favorite coach wasn’t selected, feel free to respectfully recognize them in our comment section.

New Wave (NC WAVE) Swim Team head coach John Roy led his swimmers to several impressive performances across the month, landing him Coach of the Month honors for January.

The month started with NC WAVE hosting a Distance Day meet on Jan. 6, where we saw the likes of 14-year-old Drew Sito highlight the action with a new best time of 16:24.40 in the 1650 freestyle, ranking him 36th this season in the boys’ 13-14 age group.

NC WAVE then sent brothers Matt and Sam Marsteiner, along with James Bennison, Aaron Davidson and Jackson Scheiber to the Knoxville Pro Swim Series, which took place Jan. 10-13.

Matt Marsteiner, a 17-year-old NC State commit, led the team with top-10 finishes in the men’s 800 free (4th), 1500 free (8th) and 400 free (9th), while Sam, 16, set a new PB of 16:02.90 in the 1500 to place 13th and Davidson, also 16, also set a lifetime best of 16:06.79 to crack the top 16.

Bennison finished as high as 10th with a season-best time of 2:03.76 in the 200 back, while Scheiber took 18th in the 1500 free in 16:09.86.

NC WAVE then sent some of the club’s younger swimmers to the Raleigh Swimming Association’s (RSA) Tri-State Meet in mid-January, where 14-year-olds Drew Sito and Parker Van Olst, along with 15-year-old Mattaus Rammel had several impressive swims.

Sito most notably dropped a time of 50.37 in the 100 back to rank 4th this season and 54th all-time in the boys’ 13-14 age group, while Van Olst swept the 100 and 200 breast and Rammel dropped a big PB of 49.86 in the 100 fly. On the girls’ side, 13-year-old Chandler Daigle highlighted things with eight best times, including a 24.80 showing in the 50 free. You can read more about the meet here.

Roy has been leading the WAVE swim team since 2006, and is supported by a large coaching staff that includes Senior Coach Zach Murray.

New Wave was recognized as a Silver Medal Club in USA Swimming’s 2023 Club Excellence Rankings for the second straight year.

About Competitor Swim

Since 1960, Competitor Swim® has been the leader in the production of racing lanes and other swim products for competitions around the world. Competitor lane lines have been used in countless NCAA Championships, as well as 10 of the past 13 Olympic Games. Molded and assembled using U.S. – made components, Competitor lane lines are durable, easy to set up and are sold through distributors and dealers worldwide.

^{Competitor Swim is a SwimSwam partner.}