Robin Jacobs, Three-Time NC Age Group Coach of the Year, Has Died

After coaching at TYDE Swim Team in North Carolina for three-and-a-half decades, Robin Jacobs died on Sunday, January 24th at the age of 65.

Bob Jennings, head coach of TYDE in North Carolina, told SwimSwam over the phone that Robin’s health had declined over the last three weeks. He explained that Jacobs was still on deck coaching through September and October until she began suffering from unexplained knee pain and hip pain.

“Robin had cancer about 20 years ago, and it was liver-related,” Jennings noted. “And she battled that for 20 years, and basically was recovered from it.” The official cause of her declining health is not known.

Jacobs was named the North Carolina Age Group coach of the year three times – in 1995, 1997, 2008. In 2008, she was also one of the American Swimming Coaches Association’s age group coaches of the year. But, she didn’t define her extensive coaching career at TYDE (which was named Winston-Salem YMCA until TYDE was created in 2009 and incorporated 11 branches of the YMCA) by her own awards.

“It was never about her,” Jennings said.

“She didn’t care about [the awards.] That was not important to her. And she would be humbled by it. ‘Robin, we’re gonna have a party for you.’ ‘No we’re not.’ …’Yes we are’ ‘No you’re not.’ And she just didn’t want the attention. ‘Cause that’s not who she was, she wanted the kids to get the attention.”

She officially retired last May, with plans to travel to Europe with her husband Tom Slack. Jenning’s told SwimSwam she was looking forward to retirement. “I mean, she literally had a countdown of when she was going to retire. And I do remember it being in the thousands, so obviously, that was three years,” he chuckled.

Due to the pandemic, those travel plans were canceled. Jacobs was also looking forward to becoming a grandmother, as she is survived by her daughter Torrey and son-in-law Kelly who are expecting their first child.

Legacy at TYDE

Jacobs coached at TYDE for a total of 36 years, first as the head age group coach of WSY and then as the associate head coach at TYDE since the restructuring in 2009. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Edinboro University and obtained her master’s degree from Pitt University prior to coaching. According to Jennings, she never wanted to be the head coach and was happy working with the 12-14 year-olds or “tweens” as she called them.

“The thing about Robin, what you saw is what you got. She cared about everybody.

Everybody was her kid. Everybody was her swimmer,” Jennings explained. “Even if you left to swim for a competing team, didn’t care, didn’t matter. She still talked to you…you were still her swimmer.”

After living and working in the same town for 35 years, she had developed deep relationships within the YMCA and North Carolina swimming community. Jennings said that some of her former swimmers are now coaching other teams.

When he became the head coach of TYDE in 2017, Jennings told his daughter, a current high school junior, “When you come, you can only swim for Robin.”

Traditions

On January 25th, TYDE’s Facebook page posted a small collage of photos with Jacobs. The caption ended with: “In her honor, Robin would want everyone to celebrate her life and contributions to TYDE by walking on their hands at practice today!” 

“That was – that was her thing,” Jennings laughed. It was her “secret to a taper” where swimmers walk on their hands, do handstands in the water, or walk on their hands in the water.

“Like ‘Robin why’s everybody swimming fast?’

‘Well ‘cause we walked on our hands, duh.’

“It had nothing to do with anything, but that’s something that we’ll always carry through: ‘gotta walk on your hands, gotta walk on your hands. If you don’t walk on your hands you won’t swim fast.”

Jacob’s taper secret has now spread across the YMCA community. “It’s been really fun to see local Y teams post pictures,” said Jennings. “My sister coaches in Michigan and they did it, and it’s just kind of a fun kind of a fun tribute.”

Another signature phrase of hers, Jennings shared, was “that’s it, bye-bye, go home.” Robin ended every single practice with those words and they became a subconscious staple on the pool deck.

The day after her death, Jennings was running swim practice with the senior group and he showed just how deeply that phrase has been ingrained in the team. 

“Ironically, not knowing I did it…I said it, Monday morning with my senior kids before they left practice,” Jennings said. “And one of the kids pointed out like ‘you realize you said that?’ I didn’t realize it but I do remember it.”

Retirement Tribute

When Jacobs retired in May, the pandemic had cut swim the North Carolina swim season short (as it did across the world.) Therefore, TYDE was unable to recognize Robin with “a proper send-off” and they planned to do one in the future. In the meantime, they compiled stories from former and current swimmers who trained under Robin. Here are some excerpts from Robin’s full retirement tribute which can be found on the TYDE website:

Noah Medwin, class of 2016 high school graduate, was only coached by Robin for one year:

“My favorite moment with Robin, as well as one of the most moving moments in my life, happened in the summer of 2011. I was 14 at the USRY championships. My season goal was to get a national cut and go to a meet with the national team kids. I swam the 50 free four times in a 24 hour period and missed the cut by about a second every time. She always told me from the moment I joined her group, to when I left for college that I needed to stop thinking so much. She noticed I got so in my own head that I got in my own way.

“The last day of the championships I was under the impression I would not get another chance that summer. Robin ended up entering me into the 200 freestyle relay as a lead off without telling me until 10 minutes before the event started. I had to rush and get my suit on, and by the time I had gotten to the blocks everyone had already taken their marks. Robin had already gotten timers, the pool we were swimming in did not have touch pads on both sides so I needed several hand timers in order for the time to count. She did what she knew would put me in the best position to be successful. I achieved the time and was blown away. I went up to her, speechless as a little middle school kid wondering what had just happened. She put her arm around me, and all she said was, “I told you you could do it. Your name is already on the national cut board, go hug your mom.”

Reece Alexander, a fall commit to University of North Carolina Wilmington:

“Robin, you will be missed so much. I loved my time in NP3 with you. I remember always talking to you and Paul 10 minutes into practice and you never got mad. You always listened to me tell you about my day. Also, thank you for teaching Laurin and me the ‘Liza with a Z’ song. We still know it. I loved getting to know you over the past few years. I really will miss you this time :(“

Jenning’s shared a specific memory of their relationship with SwimSwam:

 “One of my big fun things with [Robin], we got a current swimmer who’s actually going to Wilmington to swim there. And everytime she would walk on the pool deck and Robin would come up to her and: ‘I miss you Robin’ 

‘I miss you more Reece’ 

‘I miss you Robin’ 

‘I miss you m-’

“And it was just fun to watch her with everybody. And she just cared.”

Carstyn Klosterman who will be swimming at Richmond in the fall:

“I have always been a stickler about practice attendance (as many of my coaches know) and every time I missed a practice in NP3 I would freak out. Robin was always there to remind me that— just like those six 200s—if I missed one, it wasn’t going to make or break my chances of being a good swimmer. It was about the consistency and dedication I had put in throughout those other times I was present at practice.

Robin fueled my fire for swimming and without her I would not be the athlete I am today.

Jacobs’ obituary from Hayworth-Miller states that memorials may be made to Carcinoid Cancer Foundation in Mt. Kisco, New York or YMCA Tyde Swim Team in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.