The top 10 finalists for the 2018 Fitter & Faster/ASCA Age Group Coach of the Year have been announced. Whittled down from a list of 50 after a public online vote, the winner will be announced at the ASCA World Clinic in Anaheim in September.
The group has placed 49 athletes on USA Swimming’s National Age Group top 20 rankings, including 14 ranked #1.
The list includes two coaches from Irvine Novaquatics in California, the club that hosted USA Swimming’s National Championships this year, along with representatives from all over the country. In fact, those two coaches, from the same club, are the only duplicates on the list from within even the same LSC.
Top 10 Finalists
- Kyle Bubolz , Chicago Wolfpack Aquatic Club (Illinois Swimming)
- Tommy Cunningham, Seattle Metropolitan Aquatic Club (Pacific Northwest swimming)
- Rod Hansen, Irvine Novaquatics (Southern California Swimming)
- Tom Himes, North Baltimore Aquatic Club (Maryland Swimming)
- Andi Kawamoto-Klatt, Irvine Novaquatics (Southern California Swimming)
- Daniel McCord, Nitro Swimming (South Texas Swimming)
- Robert Norman, TAC Titans (North Carolina Swimming)
- Ginny Nussbaum, Long Island Aquatic Club (Metropolitan Swimming)
- Megan Oesting, Eastern Iowa Swim Federation (Iowa Swimming)
- Liv Weaver, Quicksilver Swimming (Pacific Swimming)
PREVIOUS ASCA AGE GROUP COACH OF THE YEAR RECIPIENTS
- 2017: Robert Norman, TAC Titans, Cary, North Carolina
- 2016: Sherwood Watts, Sarasota YMCA Sharks, Sarasota, Florida
- 2015: Tom Himes, NBAC, Baltimore, Maryland
- 2014: Beth Winkowski, Dynamo Swim Club, Atlanta, Georgia
I want to know why USAS is still involved with ASCA? Someone please give me 5 good reasons USAS should be involved with ASCA.
I can come up with 5 reasons. I can’t promise that you’d consider them all ‘good’ though.
Would love to know the reasons.
Sorry this is a popularity contest. Parents vote for this and the teams get a campaign together to vote for there coaches. I know one team that was voting for this each Monday before long course training.
It would be nice if they provided more information on the achievements of these coaches and other nominees. Like a breakdown of the swims/swimmers that were coached by these coaches. Is there more of a priority placed on a single swimmer ranking really high in multiple events or more placed on multiple swimmers making the top 20?
Idea: should have a vote from just the coaches across the country and have that carry more weight than a parent/swimmer vote (where the same person can vote multiple times)…still would be a popularity contest though.
It’s not a popularity contest. Yes there is voting but the voting counts for less than 10% of the nominee’s score. We had over 80,000 votes and the votes did not change the winner or the top 10. USA Swimming is not directly involved (as someone wondered). The NAG rankings are listed on the USA Swimming website and are freely downloadable by anyone. We downloaded the data and scored the swimmers as though it were a 20 place swimming meet. We contacted head coaches and found the specific coach of each swimmer/swimmers with enough points to place them in the top 50 overall. Once we matched coaches with swimmers we added bonus points for number of number 1 rankings and… Read more »
Age group coaches should be rewarded for the swimmers they coaches who make senior teams, a great reflection of good foundations laid to progress.
Making a age grouper fast is easy, moving them on as a Senior is not if the wrong work has been done .
Meh, this is an outdated philosophy. Teaching good technique is super important so if that’s what you’re talking about then I can agree. But if you’re talking about building an aerobic base and keeping swimmers slow as age groupers, I strongly disagree. There is no reason you shouldn’t be trying to get your age groupers to swim fast. You can do it without ruining their potential as seniors.
25 Free Champ speaks the truth!
Not ONE YMCA coach? Joke of an award….
Well I guess the Y needs to step up their game.
And a Y coach won in 2016