Connor Yao contributed to this story.
Longtime Naperville Central head swimming coach Mike Adams has resigned, a source has confirmed to SwimSwam.
Adams, who has served as the head coach of the Naperville boys’ program for 33 years and the girls’ team for 13, will continue his role as a coach with the Hinsdale Swim Club, the source said.
According to Swimming World, Adams’ resignation comes after the boys’ team held a toilet paper night before the start of the season so the girls’ team could celebrate Sectionals, an annual tradition for several high school athletics teams. The night reportedly included freshman wrestling, also part of the school tradition.
One of the swimmers was injured over the course of the night, Swimming World reported, leading the school to place Adams on administrative leave before he ultimately resigned.
During Adams’ tenure at Naperville Central, which began with the boys’ program in 1992, he led them to a pair of IHSA state titles in 2002 and 2010. They also finished as the state runner-ups in 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2016. He took over the reins of the girls’ team in 2013.
Adams has also coached 14 swimmers to individual state titles and has been named IHSA Coach of the Year seven times.
Most recently, the Naperville Central boys’ team failed to score at the 2026 IHSA Championships in February, while the girls’ placed 29th at their state championship meet in November with 12 points.
Brian O’Dowd, a coach for the Maverick Swim Club in Naperville, has taken over as the boys’ team head coach, according to the school website. Krista Gensler, also with Maverick Swim Club, has been selected as the head coach of the girls’ program, Swimming World reported.
Adams and Naperville Central did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Seems like a “fall guy” situation for Coach Adams.
As a NCHS swimmer, I wholeheartedly agree.
Freshman wrestling would be pretty insane 30 years ago, unbelievable that this was still taking place
Insane? What are we talking about here? Rough housing? Greco Roman? UFC bouts? When I think of high school freshman boy swimmers wrestling, the image of a couple dumb dumbs comes to mind that is vividly believable.
It wasn’t just Freshman. The Freshmen had to wrestle older and much larger upperclassmen. That’s why someone got hurt.
Also, to clarify, the 0 points scored at this season’s HS State Championship was with the new regime, not with Coach Adams.
Correction: it was simply freshman wrestling. The freshmen this year did NOT have to wrestle upperclassmen.