Program alumnus Dave Albert has been named the new head swim coach for St. Xavier High School, one of the dominant high school swimming programs in American history.
Albert, a 2008 graduate of the school, takes over the program from Tim Beerman, who coached the swimming program at the boys-only school for the last 6 seasons.
“We are thrilled to have an alumnus of St. Xavier High School and our swimming and diving program take over our storied program,” athletic director Brian Reinhart said. “Coach Albert has extensive experience as an assistant coach at St. X as well as with various clubs in the area that will be an asset to continuing the tradition of the Long Blue Lane. He understands how athletics fits into the mission of the school having lived it as a student-athlete and coach.”
St. Xavier has won 13 straight Ohio Division I (big school) state championships. Their most recent, won in February, saw a dominant victory – topping runners-up Upper Arlington by over 70 points (261.50-190) at the state championship meet.
In total, the program has won 42 Ohio High School State Championships.
Albert has been the program’s assistant coach since 2009, shortly after his swimming career there ended. He has also worked with the St. Xavier water polo team and triathlon club.
Since 2016, Albert has also coached with the Cincinnati Marlins, and he had a stint as an assistant coach with NCAA Division III school Ohio Northern University.
He spent last year as assistant director of admissions and dean of student leadership at McNicholas High School, another private school that’s about 30 minutes away from St. Xavier in Cincinnati. He will also join the admissions office at St. Xavier.
Albert graduated with both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Xavier University in Cincinnati.
St. Xavier was founded in 1831, which makes it the oldest high school in the Cincinnati area and one of the oldest in the nation. The boys’ swimming & diving team has won 22 of the last 23 Ohio state championships – with the lone exception being when St. Charles Preparatory School of Columbus won the 2008 title, which was Alberts’ senior season.
Among the program’s renowned swimming alumni are National High School Record breaker and three-time Olympic medalist Joe Hudeophl, 2005 and 2007 World Champion Jayme Cramer, and 2015 World Junior Champion Grant House.
While that middle-distance tradition has continued – they had 3 of the top 7 finishers in the 500 free at the 2021 state meet – the 2021 title was built more on depth than superstar power. The Aquabombers didn’t win a single event title en route to their overwhelming score at the 2021 championship meet, though they did have several top 3 finishes.
A new era of cheating
Bitter. Pathetic. Weak.
How exactly does St. X cheat?
From someone who grew up in Ohio swimming I am curious here.
Never get called for obvious relay dq’s and when a dq is called it gets reversed
Wait till this year!!