Russ Yarworth, who has led the men’s swimming and diving teams at the University of Massachusetts for the past 41 seasons, has announced that he will be retiring, effective immediately.
The “passing of the stopwatch” comes as UMass has already filled the head coach position, promoting former assistant coach Sean Clark. Clark swam under Yarword from 1989-1993.
Yarworth took over the program in 1979. During his tenure he guided the Minutemen to eight straight New England Championships between 1985 and 1993, capping off the streak by winning the Coach of the Year award in 1993. Following a move to the Atlantic-10 conference, he led the team to 16 conference championships. During his time in the Atlantic-10, he was awarded the Coach of the Year honor a record 14 times in only a 20-year time span.
Between 2000 and 2012, UMass won the conference championship meet 11 times. Under his guidance, the Minutemen were also awarded 5 Atlantic-10 Most Outstanding Performer Awards as well as claiming 90 individual conference championship titles.
As well as coaching the swim team, Yarworth also led the Umass water polo team from 1987-2001. During his time as the head coach, UMass won eight Eastern Championships, made seven NCAA Tournament appearances, and finished third once and fourth twice. In 2007 he was inducted into the Collegiate Water Polo Association Hall of Fame.
Yarworth said in the UMass press release:
“My life has been truly enriched by all the student-athletes I’ve had the opportunity to coach. I can’t say enough about all the coaching colleagues, support staff, and administrators who have made this the best job in the world. I must thank long time women’s swim coach Bob Newcomb and diving coach Mandy Hixon for all the fun times and coaching challenges we’ve faced together. I’d also like to thank Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford for his support of the swimming and diving program and the vision for the future for all of UMass Athletics. I couldn’t be happier to be passing my stopwatches on to my great friend and assistant coach Sean Clark. I know the program will thrive and grow under his leadership. Finally, but certainly not least, I thank my beautiful wife Sue for all the support, patience, and advice during this amazing career and life experience.”
Prior to joining the Minutemen staff, Clark served as the head men’s and women’s coach at Binghamton in an eight-year stint from 2006-2014. Clark’s staff was awarded the America East Coaching Staff of the Year three times while he was the head coach. He also guided the school and conferences first swimmer to qualify for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.
Clark has also served a total of eight years as a member of the Minutemen coaching staff, split across three separate stints.
While the UMass head coaching job was quickly filled, multiple head coach positions still remain unfilled in Division I. The biggest position that remains is Northwestern, who’s former head coach Jeremy Kipp recently took over the program at Southern California. Also unannounced so far are the new head coaches at Pepperdine, Western Illinois, Cal Poly, Wisconsin – Green Bay, Siena College, and UNC Wilmington
I was there, the day Russ began his career as a swim coach. I was a freshman in ’79. Russ was not that much older than we all were. But he was a great coach who did what great coaches do – he never missed the opportunity to give you praise when you did something that was especially good, relative to your individual skill level. Also, he had an incredible memory for who was able to do what and how fast. He had an amazing attention to detail. He was quick with a joke but he certainly engendered a seriousness to the work. He meant a lot to me. The intensity of purpose that I practiced in the pool with… Read more »
It has been my honor to be in touch with Russ these last 6 years. He’s always been a straight shooter when talking about recruiting my swimmers and was a tremendous resource When talking about swimming. He has worked hard for everything he’s accomplished and has earned this chance to retire. I’m sure he will keep being a fan and ardent supporter of UMASS swimming and diving and, when he’s not going to concerts, he’ll be there in person to cheer for the team. Thanks for everything, Russ.
The disrespect for misspelling Binghamton. Sean is a great coach though.
What set Russ apart from any other coach was how much he cared about each one of his swimmers as individuals. He wanted to see every swimmer that came through his program succeed and grow as a person, in addition to as an athlete. A great coach but an extraordinary man.
A fantastic coach, who has done amazing things with very limited resources. You will be missed as one of the true leaders of swimming in Massachusetts. You have built a dynasty in addition to doing great things with your athletes both in and out of the pool.
Enjoy a well deserved retirement!
My sincere congratulations to Rus. I loved the rivalries our teams had and I have so much respect for you as a person and as a coach. I know you will be missed.
There are people in our lives that, without us knowing or them even trying, impact us in so many positive ways. And that it is NOT an easy thing to do. Russ is a leader in life. His absolute joy of being on that pool deck every day really translated into such special relationships. I am so thankful for the second chance Russ gave me at college swimming. Many coaches, big and small named ones, think x’s and o’s and specific sets and other “intellectual property” is what swimming is about…. don’t get me wrong, Russ knows his stuff. But what he was able to translate to his swim teams over the years is a love of swimming and smiling… Read more »
Well deserved retirement with an amazing coaching career! Enjoy YOUR time now!