Tom Slear Resigns from Naval Academy Aquatic Club Head Coach Position

Swimming News: It is with much regret that we announce the resignation of Coach Slear.  After 9 years of esteemed work and dedication, Tom will be leaving NAAC to return to his writing career.  During his tenure he has taken the club from eighth to second in the Maryland LSC  and from 165 to over 200 swimmers.  When he arrived in 2004, NAAC had one sectional qualifier and 28 short-course state championship qualifiers.  This year the club had 20 who qualified for sectionals and 83 for the state meet .  In addition, he introduced a Masters program and put together an quality group of coaches who average more than seven years with the club.But his greatest accomplishments have been our kids.  Under his leadership and direction, our kids have learned to love the sport and be exemplary competitors. Tom recognized that all athletes should be respected for their accomplishments.  It did not matterwhether they were swimming in the Olympic pool or at Le Jeune, each and that every one of our swimmers were contributing to the sport. Tom has agreed to support the Club fora transition period through December 5, 2013.    He will continue to support the team and our recruiting efforts through the B Buster meet or until a new Head Swim Coach is hired whichever is sooner.  His responsibilities will be to manage the administrative side of the program including tryouts, registrations, meet entries etc.  During that time, Jim Roos will take over his on-deck responsibilities and coach a portion of the Senior Group.  Coach Roos will be temporarily replaced in the Junior Group with a coach to be hired from the outside. Please join the Executive Committee in wishing Tom tremendous success in the future.  We plan to hold a good-bye party at Bay Ridge Clubhouse immediately following the Open Water swim on September 14th.   Please join us to wish Tom success in the next leg of his life’s journey, to say good-bye and to celebrate the many successes we enjoyed during his tenure. The NAAC Executive Committee This unedited release was provided to swimswam by NAAC.