COLIN KENNEDY NAMED AGE GROUP COACH OF THE YEAR AT ASCA SWIM CLINIC

BY MATTHEW DE GEORGE

Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club coach Colin Kennedy was named the 2021 Age Group Coach of the Year this week by the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) and Fitter and Faster.

Kennedy was one of the finalists named in July. The selection was made as part of the ASCA World Clinic this weekend in Orlando.

Kennedy is the head age group coach at Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club (under the Fleet umbrella). He began his coaching career in his native St. Louis, Mo., in 2003 at the neighborhood club level. His previous coaching stops included as the head age group coach of Flyers Aquatic Swim Team in St. Louis and the national prep coach then head coach of Parkway Swim Club, also in St. Louis.

He was named the LSC Age Group Coach of the Year in 2012 by Ozark Swimming LSC and in 2017 by Gulf Swimming LSC. He helped Fleet win the Bill Nixon Team Sportsmanship Award in 2021. It was twice won the Allen Salinas Gulf Team Sportsmanship Award under his tutelage.

With Cypress Fairbanks/Fleet, Kennedy has coached 73 individual USA Swimming Top 20 swims (including 43 in the top 10) and 37 USA Swimming Top 20 relays (25 top 10). That group includes the No. 1 9-10 boys 400 freestyle relay long-course in 2019. Kennedy mentored one swimmer who set a Texas Age-Group Standard (TAGS) record and nine individual TAGS champions in multiple events. The other nine finalists were: Allison Brol, Nitro Swimming; Andrew Eckhart, Sarasota Family YMCA Sharks Swim Team; Joe Finke, St. Petersburg Aquatics; Don Garman, La Mirada Armada; Chrissy Gentry, Lakeside Aquatic Club; Andrew Marsh, Lakeside Aquatic Club; Erin Miller, Scarlet Aquatics; Dale Porter, Bolles School Sharks; and Gabriela Sofia, Long Island Aquatic Club. Bios of all the finalists are available here.

Also unveiled at the ASCA World Clinic were the 2021 inductees for the organization’s hall of fame – Charlie Kennedy, Ray Looze and Cyndi Gallagher – as well as Coach of the Year Gregg Troy.

Gallagher spent 31 seasons as the head coach of the women’s team at UCLA, finishing in the top 10 at NCAAs. The current coach of the International Swimming League’s DC Trident has mentored numerous Olympians in her time.

Kennedy (no relation to Colin Kennedy) has spent 35 years as the head coach at Suburban Swim Club outside of Philadelphia and more than 20 years coaching at Swarthmore College. His prized pupils at Suburban include Brendan Hansen.

Looze has been the head coach at Indiana University for the last 18 years. A two-time assistant coach for Team USA at Olympic Games, Looze has coached more than a dozen Olympians, including Americans Lilly King, Cody Miller, Blake Pieroni and Annie Lazor. ◄