Mark Schubert Becomes Head Coach of Swim El Toro Swim Team
Just weeks after departing as head coach of the Mission Viejo Nadadores, Mark Schubert has been named the head coach of the SET (Swim El Toro) Swim Team. Schubert, one of the most accomplished coaches in U.S. swimming history from his stint in the 1970s and 1980s at Mission Viejo and later college roles at Texas and USC, stepped down from Mission Viejo in September following the Olympic Games. He was expecting to leave for good at the end of 2021 but chose to stop coaching for the Nadadores this month.
Now, Schubert has a new coaching role with the SET Swim Team, owned by 1996 U.S. Olympian Brad Schumacher. Schumacher won gold medals as a member of the 400 and 800 freestyle relay teams at the Atlanta Games, and he later participated on the U.S. water polo team at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. The current staff of the club is listed as Schubert, head coach emeritus and executive director Tim Teeter and assistant coach Barrett Tester.
When contacted by Swimming World, Schubert expressed enthusiasm about his new opportunity. “I am so excited! The swimmers are very enthusiastic and fired up about this new team. We are gettign new swimmers every day that want to be fast!” he said.
Regarding his quick return to coaching after leaving Mission Viejo, Schubert said that Schumacher “gave me a deal I could not refuse. I was looking into opportunities but did not know it would happen so fast. Brad is a great guy to work for!”
Schubert, who was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1997, started his first stint coaching at Mission Viejo in 1972, after the University of Kentucky graduate spent a year coaching at Cuyahoga Falls High School in Ohio.
Schubert was at Mission Viejo from 1972-85, a period in which the club was unmatched in its success. He then spent three seasons at Mission Bay Makos Swim Club in Florida, and won two NCAA titles in four seasons as the coach of the University of Texas women’s team. He won a women’s NCAA title in 14 successful seasons at the University of Southern California.
Schubert was hired in 2006 as the U.S. national team head coach and general manager and presided over the U.S. Olympic team through the very successful 2008 Olympic Games. However, Schubert was let go from the position in 2010 after he came into conflict with USA Swimming’s then-CEO, the late Chuck Wielgus.
Schubert joined Golden West Swim Club in California in 2011 and returned to Mission Viejo in 2016, that most recent stint including the guidance of Michael Brinegar onto the U.S. Olympic Team for the 2020 Games in Tokyo. After first arriving at Mission Viejo as a 23-year-old coach, he left for the final time at age 72.
Schubert has coached a long list of swimmers onto U.S. Olympic teams, a run going all the way back to the 1970s. His list includes Brian Goodell, Shirley Babashoff, Mary T. Meagher, Tiffany Cohen, Mike O’Brien, Dara Torres, Sippy Woodhead, Rich Saeger, Janet Evans, Brad Bridgewater and Kristine Quance.
Should probably list Lenny Krazelburg on the Schubert Olympians list as three of his four Olympic Golds were earned while under Schubert’s tutelage.
Mark Schubert is coaching me right now! He is amazing and definitely the best coach that I have ever had.