…Belgian swimmer Fanny Lecluyse was sent home from the Olympic Games early for what the Belgian Olympic Committee called “an incident or inappropriate behavior,” according to the Associated Press. Lecluyse finished 19th in the 200 breaststroke, making her the highest-finishing Belgian swimmer at these Olympics. She is the second athlete that the Belgian team has sent home, after cyclist Gijs van Hoecke was sent packing as well. Lecluyse was sent home August 3rd, while the swimming competition was still being raced, but after Lecluyse was done swimming. The two incidents were not related, as van Hoecke was photographed extremely intoxicated while leaving a London nightclub four days later…
…Earlier this summer, the Duke Swimming & Diving programs were granted an extra spot on their staff in honor of the success they’ve had in the last two seasons. We now know that this new spot will be filled by Jesse Moore. Most of Moore’s experience has revolved around the Division I Colonial Athletic Association. He was a four-year letter winner as a swimmer at William & Mary, and then an assistant at Drexel as they won CAA Conference Championships. He then transitioned to a graduate assistant, then full-time assistant, role with conference back with his alma mater, who finished as high as 3rd in the conference. Moore has been very active in collegiate coaching, and was the recipient of the inaugural Jean Freeman award from the CSCAA for Division I men’s coaches…
…Longhorn Aquatics has removed the “interim” tag from Mike Laitala and named him the program’s new head coach. Laitala takes over the position after three years as the program’s associate head coach. He has previous stops as an assistant at the University of North Texas and the University of Denver, and is a former All-American for the University of Texas. He moves into the spot vacated when former head coach Doug Rusk was transitioned out in July. Longhorn Aquatics has also officially added new women’s head coach Carol Capitani and assistant Roric Fink to their coaching staff; this is the common practice for the club wing to ensure representation rights at major meets…
Maybe TXLA will finally get back on track. I do not know Laitala. But the previous two didn’t seem to understand that it is important to communicate effectively with both swimmers and parents. The age group program has been a mess for several years before Rusk. The national reputation of TXLA is almost exclusively due to the post-grads coached by Eddie Reese, not by the age group coaches.
Brendan I think.
Who is that a picture of?