Head Coach of Davie Nadadores, ‘Coach Alex,’ to Retire From Coaching

The great Alex Pussieldi, head coach of the Davie Nadadores, has announced his retirement from coaching, effective September 1st.

Pussieldi wears many hats in the swimming world. Along with co-owner Tomas Victoria and their staff, he has built a powerful program in South Florida. Not only has he trained top American swimmers, but he has very much embraced the multi-cultural Miami heritage in his club and become a hotspot for Latin American swimmers who are looking to expand their swimming beyond the resources that they are offered in their home countries.

The Nadadores alone scored 14 medals at the CCCAN Championships, a championship meet for countries of the Caribbean, and they will send four swimmers to the World Championships: Jemal le Grand from Aruba, Felipe Lima from Brazil, Rafael van Leeuwarde from Suriname, and Yousef Alaskari from Kuwait. A stunning 35 swimmers with Davie ties were at the 2011 Pan Am Championships shows just how relevant the club has become in the western hemisphere.

A global reputation begun with their work in Latin America, they now train swimmers from across the world, with 65 countries having been represented either in summer-camp membership or full team membership, including places like Canada, Australia, the Czech Republic, Japan, and Switzerland. All of that for a club that has only been around for 5 years.

“I’m so proud of what we’ve built here. I owe a lot of thanks to thank my partner Tomas Victoria, who invited me to build all these,” Pussieldi said of his co-owner and the Director of the Nadadores.

His contributions to the American program have been great as well. The dual-citizened Dylan Carter broke a National Age Group Record under the watch of coach Alex this past year, and he has also coached Joey Pedraza onto the US Open Water National Team.

But even in stepping down from his post at Davie, don’t expect coach Pussieldi to stray far from the pool deck. He has agree to coach Lima and Pedraza through to 2016, and will still work with different camps, clinics, and private lessons.

Meanwhile, coach Pussieldi, a Brazilian native and the voice of Brazilian swimming with his work through SporTV/Globosat in Brazil, will begin investing heavily in his media career. The timing is fortuitous as Brazil builds toward their hosting duties at the 2016 Summer Olympics. His Blog do Coach constantly has its finger directly on the pulse of Brazilian Swimming, and will grow in value as the Games come nearer.

“Davie is the best thing I ever did in my professional life. Leaving will not be easy but is something will be necessary to pursue my other challenges. I will not walk away. I will be part of the transition process and will help my colleagues to manage the future of the program,” Coach Alex said of the transition.

As for the future of the program, on September 1st they will become Team Davie, and Pussieldi says he feels confident that his staff will continue what they’ve built for 5 years.

“It has been a tremendous journey and I’m very glad to be part of American swimming for the last 15 years. I had an opportunity to work with coaches like Jack Nelson and Jay Fitzgerald, both of whom made a tremendous impact on my career. Now is time to look for another challenges and just say thanks to all.”