Q: Before becoming a coach this year, how many years have you been coaching swimmers?

A: I’ve had quite a break in between, but I used to coach swimming around 20 years ago. I used to coach with the city of Hazelwood years ago, back when I was a lifeguard, and I also taught individual lessons and things like that. So in total, between that and working with my boys, I have a good six to eight years.

Q: Do you have a job outside of being a swim coach?

A: Yes, I do. I am a highschool teacher at North Technical High School, which is in the North County area. I teach outdoor construction maintenance. It’s a special-ed class, which tries to teach special-ed kids to get some career skills that they can use to hopefully land them jobs and things like that. I’m also the head varsity girls’ volleyball coach there too.

Q: What made you want to sign up to be our girls’ swim coach this year?

A: It was mentioned to me while I was at my son’s swim meet, he swims for Francis Howell, by the CFO of Francis Howell. He mentioned it to my wife and he asked me if I was interested, and I said “yeah.” I’ve always enjoyed the sport through my boys, and I used to coach back in the day, so it was an opportunity. It was presumed to me that they were close to where they needed a coach, and I decided I would do it.

Q: What are your thoughts about the team so far?

A: They are a great group of girls. I enjoy every second that I spend with them and I look forward to try and build a program. They give me everything I ask of them, and that’s all I can ask for.

Q: How do you hope your team does this season?

A: I hope that we are better at the end than we are in the beginning. Everybody nowadays is big on wins and losses. I’m big on work ethic, character and individual accomplishment. All those go hand and hand, and I believe that Rome wasn’t built in a day. We have to work on building the program up and getting it to where it can be, and I have a great group of girls and I think we can lay a good foundation down this year.

Q: Are there any swimmers we’ll need to look out for this season?

A: We have a good handful of swimmers that I think we need to keep an eye on. I think there are going to be some big things, a lot determined on how much work they put in, and going from there. I think we have a lot of swimmers too that maybe we won’t say to look out for, but that are impressing not only themselves but also some of the people around them.