Franklin Regional Swim Team in suburban Indianapolis has hired Jason Roberts as its new associate head coach and top senior coach.
The team is led by head coach and club director Zach DeWitt.
Roberts, most famous for his work in building the Northern Kentucky Clippers as head coach, has led programs at Foxjet, the Countryside YMCA, and most recently the North Texas Nadadores in Dallas, where two years ago he took over a program that was in the throes of battles over mismanagement and local swim politics.
That experience with NTN could help him in providing a stabilizing force at the FRST, which itself has seen challenges in recent months, but has brought in some high profile coaches already in 2026.
In late 2025, Colin Mothersead, a coach with the FRST senior group, was the subject of an investigative report by a local newspaper accusing him of abuse, including allegedly pinning a 16-year-old swimmer to the wall on the pool deck.
Less than a month later, Mothersead resigned from his position after being arrested on a misdemeanor charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Then on February 11, the team announced the hiring of Jennifer Brinegar as an age group coach. In addition to being an experienced local coach, she was a 1976 U.S. Olympian. Her son Michael Brinegar represented the U.S. at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
But one parent says that Brinegar hasn’t been on deck in more than a month, though the team still lists her on its website as part of its coaching staff.
Enter Roberts, who is expected to start on May 17.
From the FRST:
But what makes Jason truly special goes beyond results. Throughout the hiring process, one message came through loud and clear from those who have been coached by him: he cares deeply. He builds trust. He sees the person before the athlete. That ability to form genuine relationships is what fuels not only faster swims but also stronger, more confident individuals. It’s the kind of leadership that inspires belief—and belief is where breakthroughs live.
This next chapter for Jason is also a meaningful return home. With family living outside of Batesville and deep roots in the Cincinnati swimming community, Jason brings both a national perspective and a personal connection to this region.
This is more than a hire—it’s a step forward for our entire program. With Jason’s leadership, experience, and commitment to people-first development, we are excited for what lies ahead.
The future of Franklin Regional is bright. We will have a welcoming event of some sort for Jason, where we’ll be able to introduce him to our families, but more details on that later.
With the Clippers, his teams won 8 Ohio LSC Championships and in 2008 and 2012 he qualified 14 swimmers for the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Among the Nadadores’ top current swimmers is high school senior and Texas A&M commit Ella McWhorter. She was the Texas 6A (big school) High School State Champion in the 100 breaststroke in February and is one of the top breaststrokers nationally in the class.
With FRST he takes over a senior group that also feeds one of the state’s top high school programs. Among the program’s big names is Lucas Ackermann, ironically another Texas A&M breaststroke commit in the class of 2026. He won the Indiana Boys’ High School State Championship in February in the 100 breaststroke in 53.23.
This story is a bit off. I’m a NTN parent. Jason left after less than a year at NTN due to personal reasons that required his return to his home state. The suggestion that there is mismanagement or politics that create a bad team climate here is untrue, silly and borderline disinformation. Our team is a tight knit family that continues to thrive.
Wondering when Swimswam will write about the toxic parent culture in that area of Texas. First time I’d blame the coach but after 3 coaches the common denominator is the parents being the issue all around.
Few things worse in life than an overzealous parent board,
The fact that our comments are downvoted is wild. Possibly coming from those North Texas parents.
Yeah absolutely crazy that you would negatively generalize an entire demographic and that anybody would downvote that. What is society coming to?
If a group of people, in this case North Texas Parents, push out 3 coaches, that’s not a generalization. That’s a fact. The parents in that town seem to be unhinged.
Tatted Ralph: Your claim is not true. State all the facts about the team for the past two years (not from the 2022) to proof your claim . Coach Jason is leaving voluntarily due to personal reasons. He is well supported by both NTN parents and athletes.
100% true.
What club are you associated with?
As an NTN parent, I say come hang out with us if you are local. You’ll see that this article is nonsense. We just went private, we’re dropping times, hosting meets, making money and having a great time. Life is sweet at NTN!
Was he fired? Or did he quit because of the parents?
Coach Jason left voluntarily due to personal reasons. He is well supported by both NTN parents and athletes and NTN program is doing well since it went private two years ago. Stop speculating.
I am a NTN parent. Jason was a wonderful addition to our team and did amazing work with our kids. He left for purely personal reasons. Nothing more.
The only toxic thing here is this comment. As an NTN parent, I saw swimmers and parents in tears when Coach Jason announced he had been offered a wonderful opportunity to return home to Indiana and continue coaching. Under his leadership, and with the hard work of the coaches, swimmers, parents, and board, NTN has grown into one of the strongest programs in North Texas.
Texas will miss him, and he will always have a home at NTN.
FRST will now dominate the south side of Indiana. Especially since the other team that has been their main competitor ,CG AC ,is imploding since they have had a complete turnover in coaching staff and a horrible head coach. .
One of the better clubs in Indiana. I hope this hire ends the current course of turbulent waters and brings the swimming and development back to the forefront. Best of luck FRST!