Commentary by Jason Marsteller
With news breaking yesterday that Mission Viejo head coach Bill Rose would be retiring in a year-and-a-half, it got me thinking about who might be viable candidates to replace such a legend.
Rose, who has coached at Mission Viejo since 1992 – a span of 25 years by the time he calls it a career, will be tough to replace.
The big question left for the Mission Viejo Nadador Board to answer during this replacement process is whether they decide to add someone who is already well-established as a head coach elsewhere, go with someone already in house, or look to other parts of Rose’s coaching tree that are currently making significant strides elsewhere.
Here are my 5 names for people who could be great fits in Mission Viejo:
Bill Voigt, Mission Viejo Swim Program Development Director
Voigt would fit the in-house option to a T. Voigt has coached alongside Rose as a member of the Mission Viejo Nadador staff since 2002. That’s 14 years of doing things the Nadador Way.
Voigt also has some strong coaching experience prior to his time at Mission Viejo. He was the Head Age Group Coach at the Napa Valley Swim Team, and also served on the Swim Tucson staff as a Senior Coach earlier in his career.
Voigt would be a good fit if Mission Viejo is looking to remain in-house with the replacement selection. This would be the likely decision if the Board is not looking to shake anything up following Rose’s departure.
Tyler Fenwick, Tennessee Associate Coach
Fenwick, who definitely has some serious ties to Mission Viejo having served as Mission’s Men’s National Team Coach from 2009-12, has made a huge impact at the University of Tennessee over the last 4 years.
During his time with Mission Viejo, his athletes littered NAG Top 10 lists while placing numerous swimmers on the National and National Junior Team. At Tennessee, Fenwick has served on the U.S. World University Games coaching staff while mentoring multiple national finalists, National Team members, All-Americans and international-level medalists.
Tennessee is in an evolution, developing their men’s and women’s programs into national championship contenders under head coach Matt Kredich. This may make it hard to pry Fenwick from Knoxville. Regardless, his ties to Mission as well as his track record at all levels speak for themselves. An opportunity to continue a legendary tradition with the Nadadores may be hard to resist.
Ron Aitken, Sandpipers of Nevada Head Coach & CEO
One of the rising coaches in the sport of swimming, Aitken would need some serious persuading to be done to leave his team in Southern Nevada.
Aitken, who has a similar distance background nationally and internationally as Rose, and has coached on international staffs alongside Rose, could be a strong fit for the Nadadores. Recently producing young distance aces such as Logan Houck, Erin Emery and Erica Sullivan.
Aitken has been with the Sandpipers since 1994. That’s nearly as long as Rose has been with the Nadadores.
Bruce Gemmell, Nation’s Capital Location Head Coach
If you are looking to replace a distance coaching legend, why not with the coach of the top distance swimmer in the world (Katie Ledecky).
The timing might not be a perfect fit, but after the 2016 Rio Olympics – Ledecky will be leaving NCAP to swim for the Stanford Cardinal on a regular basis. I could easily see Mission offering Gemmell a Head Coach In Waiting position behind Rose following the Rio Olympics to allow Gemmell to adjust to the Southern California lifestyle.
Gemmell, however, could be pretty pricey following what will likely be a historic Olympic Games by Ledecky this summer.
Dave Kelsheimer, Team Santa Monica Head Coach & CEO
Kelsheimer has had a lengthy and successful stay at Team Santa Monica. With a decade of service with the squad, he definitely has proven that he knows how to be successful in California club swimming.
In fact, Kelsheimer already has an Olympian in his stable of swimmers this year as Jordan Wilimovsky earned a spot on the 2016 U.S. Open Water Olympic roster by way of winning the 10K world title at the 2015 World Championships. With open water swimming being a hallmark of the Mission Viejo Nadador squad, Kelsheimer already has the credentials to continue that long tradition.
Kelsheimer also has some international coaching experience, having been the Head Coach and General Manager of the Surrey Park Swim Club in Melbourne, Australia. He also served as the Cayman Islands National Head Coach, producing Shaune and Brett Fraser as some of the top University of Florida swimmers of all time.
All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.
Justin Lucas
Todd Hickman
Paul Carter at the Olympic Club would a great choice!
Or not hire a distance based coach and go more sprint based. There is a really good one in So Cal who is arguably the best in the US.
Dave Salo would never leave USC.
Never say never! Don’t be surprised who comes out of the woodwork for this job. Reminds me of when George Haines announced he was leaving UCLA for Foxcatcher to “raise the bar” for coaches pay across the boards. So many applied, and UCLA AD JD Morgan chose Ron “Stix” Ballatore to be our head coach. Great choice! The MVN job is a prestigious choice position that has been occupied by only 5 head coaches since the club was founded in 1968, 48 years ago, with Mark Schubert and Bill Rose leading the team for about 40 years. It is a dream job for most coaching professionals. Be sure to call me when you get hired and my team, The Gold Medal Group, will help you acquire the perfect home in the area!