4-time Olympian Milorad “Mike” Cavic, once the arch-rival of the world’s most decorated Olympian Michael Phelps, has been named the interim head coach at the King County Aquatic Club (KING) based in the metropolitan Seattle area.
He replaces Jay Benner, who was named the head coach at KING last year after Michael Brooks resigned the position in early 2018. Brooks left around the time that the club was sold as part of the fallout of the USA Swimming membership ban for the club’s former owner and CEO Sean Hutchison. Neither Benner nor Brooks lasted a full year in the position.
Cavic is most famous in the world of swimming as being the guy who lost to Phelps by in the 100 fly final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by a margin so narrow that even a frame-by-frame replay of the finish still left the result in doubt. A year later, a public war-of-words between Phelps and Cavic resulted in Phelps winning the 100 fly again at the World Championships, in World Record fashion, with Cavic taking silver. Cavic won the 50 fly that year.
Cavic was born and raised in California but represented Serbia (as well as Serbia & Montenegro and Yugoslavia) in international competition. In total, he won 7 European titles in the 50 and 100 meter butterfly events before retiring after the 2012 Olympic Games.
The 34-year old has been involved in his fair share of controversy as an athlete, even when not related to his rivalry with Phelps. In 2008, he won the European Championship in the 50 fly in long course, and in the process set a new European Record. On the podium to receive is medal, Cavic wore a t-shirt that read “Kosovo is Serbia” in Cyrillic: a slogan used to protest Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia a month earlier. As punishment, he was disqualified from the remainder of his individual events at the meet by LEN, and the Serbian swimming federation was fined $10,800.
As a coach, Cavic joined the team in mid-2018 after a year spent as an assistant at LSU. He was originally hired to “lead/coordinate the Novice through Developmental 2 groups,” including creating a developmental pathway for the club. He also assisted Benner with the senior/national group.
We have reached out to both KING and Cavic for comment, but as of posting have not heard a response.
KING’s men’s team finished 11th and their women’s team finished 14th at last weekend’s Washington Open. In 2018, the men’s team won the meet and the women’s team placed 2nd.
A lot of people are, right or wrong, enjoying watching king implode. They were the biggest and best for a long time. Now, not as much. Benner has a long history in the PNW, from TSC, BBST, KING. Too many rumors to count, just rumors. But where there is smoke…
Here is a link from nine months ago. More King drama.
https://swimswam.com/michael-brooks-resigns-as-king-head-coach-after-club-sale/
Remember first and foremost it is about the kids. Not coaches and clubs.
Honestly, if everyone wants it to be ABOUT THE KIDS, stop bringing up the past that the kids could not control. What went down was ugly, but we are still King–a different King. Other clubs have gone through ugly seasons and come out the other side. Being a smaller club has its benefits–we may not have the sheer numbers since the implosion to win the big meets, but our swimmers work hard and have heart! Let’s remember that that is what makes a winning team. We will survive this too………because it is still ABOUT THE KIDS!
Curious to hear what you think makes a winning team. I would say 90% of the swimmers out there regardless of club work hard and have heart. It’s the nature of our sport.
Stable leadership/ownership, cohesive coaching, great team culture, parents/coaches working together are among the things that make a great team and seem to be lacking at KING. Not sure how having a new coach every six months constitutes making a winning team.
As a parent on deck helping run the meet last weekend, this is not surprising. If the coaches on my team spoke to swimmers the way that Mr. Brenner spoke to the King swimmers he would have been fired immediately. I am only surprised he hasn’t been sanctioned by USA swimming. While King has had a history of many coaches who believe they have the right to verbally abuse swimmers, Mr. Brenner’s behavior on deck took it to a level where many different teams brought up concerns. If King had not fired mr. Brenner after this past weekend, I can’t imagine any of their swimmers staying.
As someone who was also on deck this past weekend, and who has a kid who has been coach by Coach Benner, I can tell you that you have no idea what you are talking about. The hard working kids at King are very upset that Coach Benner is gone. He is never abusive towards kids, but definitely holds kids accountable.
As someone who was on deck this past weekend and has had a son coached my Coach Benner, I can say that you have no idea what you are talking about. All of the hard working swimmers at King are very upset about Coach Benner leaving. In all my years of knowing Coach Benner, I’ve never known him to be abusive towards swimmers, he will hold them accountable though.
Many adults and swimmers witnessed his yelling. He yelled at the swimmers for reasons not at all associate with swimming. It was surreal to witness. There were at least 3 different young men and women in tears that we sent other swimmers to look after. It became such a spectacle we considered informing the officials. I am not a fan of KING’s past but the team image has improved a lot since the old coaches left and moved to SMAC. Mr. Brenner was brining back a history of misdirected anger.
First of all the man’s name is Benner not Brenner.
You really seem to be a walking contradiction, you didn’t like King’s past-those coach’s which were extremely successful but by your assessment were too mean to the kids. But you also claim that the teams image has been improving since they all left and Jay took over. Then you state how terrible Coach Benner is/was, so which is it??
I wish Coach Benner had been given more time, he was starting to change the culture at King to one of ownership, hard work and discipline. Kids were really starting to buy in and the results were very good. It will be tough for any coach there when you have a owner, parents and boosters promoting a culture of entitlement and immediate gratification. These are the same parents that hold meetings with swimmers to talk about the head coach, when he is out of town. Then they tell the coach that he can’t question kids commitment to the sport- and that he has to play music during practice.
Taking shots at people in this forum is nothing more than extreme cowardice. If you have a problem you know where you can bring it.
Where?
Ernie and Bert = Internet Tough Guy
As a parent on deck helping run the meet last weekend, this is not surprising. If the coaches on my team spoke to swimmers the way that Mr. Brenner spoke to the King swimmers he would have been fired immediately. I am only surprised he hasn’t been sanctioned by USA swimming. While King has had a history of many coaches who believe they have the right to verbally abuse swimmers, Mr. Brenner’s behavior on deck took it to a level where many different teams brought up concerns. If King had not fired mr. Brenner after this past weekend, We would have complained to USA Swimming.
Can you please elaborate on what he actually did? Would you have complained or reported him to usaswimming? Complaining to them is a waste of their time. If you planned to report them if he stayed, then you probably should still report him regardless of him not being on king anymore. If he did something that was unsafe, you need to look out for the kids. But if you just disagree with his approach, you are merely a bitter local rival.
Nevermind, read your comments below. Bitter local rival.
You observed no such thing. I was there. I heard it all. He holds swimmers accountable. He is actually easy to speak to and always, always tells you how he feels about whatever it is you are discussing. Swimmers in this case were not where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there and he et them know this was unacceptable. OMG, holding our kids accountable? You want real coach? This is what you will get. You want a babysitter, hire one. The fact you did not report anything is testimony to your nonsense.
Love how this guy is always advertised as a big rival for Phelps….yeah, in just one of the 8 events Phelps swims, and for two of the 16ish years Phelps was swimming at the world level.
Hard to build a team when another Seattle Metropolitan team steals coaches, swimmers, pools, and pool time.
Any discussion about the King Aquatic club sure brings out quick responses from the bottom feeders who have no clue what is really happening there and what has happened. Many are simply wanting the team to fail but don’t want to come out and say it directly. The fallout of the Hutchison ordeal still plagues the team, however it will be fine in the long run. It shouldn’t be that hard to show some respect for the kids that are working hard everyday while you mind your own business.
or maybe another job opened that jay wanted
Floating the finish with no downtick, lifting the head before contact and floating the fingertips upward instead of extending “through” the touchpad cost him the GOLD and earned him the honor of – The definition of a bonehead error = “Cavic” for years to come! We all enjoyed watching that finish AND hopefully all age group swimmers will learn what not to do from him.
I mean, I wasn’t the biggest fan of him but the dude was one of the best flyers ever. Calling him boneheaded and what not is just ridiculous. He was good. Are you among the best in the world at your craft?