STRATEGIC VISION
GOAL 2
PROGRAM
W H AT M A K E S T H E M T I C K?
In international competition and at home in Penn Charter’s pool, assistant swim coach Crystal Keelan looks for connections to her swimmers and ignites their drive. BY RAY BAILEY OPC ’09 When Brian Hecker refers to his Penn Charter swimming and diving colleague Crystal Keelan as “one of the best coaches in the country,” he isn’t exaggerating out of chummy enthusiasm—he means it. His assessment would likely be affirmed, in fact, by the authorities at USA Swimming, the national governing body for the sport. Why else would they name Keelan to lead Team USA at the World Junior Championships in Budapest this summer?
“It’s a pretty cool opportunity,” Keelan said from her office in the Graham Athletics Center, where she also presides over the Penn Charter Aquatics Club (PCAC). Budapest marks Keelan’s second highprofile appointment in less than a year. Last fall, she served as head coach of Team USA at the Youth Olympic Games—the sport’s other premier international competition—in Buenos Aires. It was her first time leading Team USA, though she had previously served as assistant coach. The Youth Olympic Games appointment held another significance for Keelan: It was her first appearance at an international meet without her star protégé, Reece Whitley OPC ’18. Keelan is perhaps best known for coaching Whitley through 23 National Age Group records, a flurry of national and international medals, and a Sports Illustrated Kids cover. Their seven-year mentorship began with one-on-one lessons when Whitley was 11 and continued at PC and PCAC until his graduation last spring. But impressive as those achievements are, reducing Keelan’s career to her work with Whitley would be misguided, warns Hecker. “Everywhere she’s been she’s had success,” he said. After concluding her own swimming career at York College, Keelan became an assistant coach with the Lower Moreland Lightning in 2004. She sent swimmers to top national meets, trained Junior Olympic champions and refined her coaching skills while working under her aunt and mentor, Dawn Pachence. In 2007, Keelan began a five-year stint as head coach at her high school, Council Rock. She led the school to its first divisional title in three decades and watched her roster balloon into the mid200s. The school’s dwindling USA club program grew from two members to 50 under her direction, and more than half the team qualified for Junior Olympics.
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SPRING 2019
