U.S. Paralympic Swimming Names Eight Assistant Coaches for Paris Paralympics
U.S. Paralympic Swimming on Monday named eight assistant coaches who will be on staff for the Paris Paralympics.
The assistants will be on-the-ground support for the 33-member team at the Paralympics. They will be directed by John Payne, hired as the program’s head coach in May.
“We selected a diverse coaching staff with a wealth of experience that will partner well with the 33 athletes competing in Paris. We wanted to bring in a coaching staff who know our swimmers well, and who has proven their dedication to Para swimming in the past quad,” U.S. Paralympics Swimming director Erin Popovich said in a press release. “These coaches have been outstanding resources for our program in the past three years since Tokyo, and we have no doubt they will help lead our team to a successful Games.”
Among those on the staff is George Leatherman, the resident team coach for the paralympic program at headquarters in Colorado Springs. In that capacity, he has worked with a core of the team over the last Olympic quad. Patrick McCloskey, who works with Nitro Swimming in Texas, has spent time at the Olympic Paralympic Training Center with Leatherman and has worked various international meets for Team USA.
Most of the other coaches come attached to qualifiers for the Paralympics. James Barone, now at Chelsea Piers Swim Team, oversaw the training of Ali Truwit. Ben Colin is the primary coach for Olivia Chambers, as well as for Northern Iowa’s distance program. He was a member of the coaching staff for Team USA at the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships. Marty Hendrick, an accomplished para swimming and masters swimming coach, guided Abbas Karimi to each of the last two Olympics. Dave Modzelewski is the disability coordinator of the North Shore Sharks in Massachusetts and has worked with Leanne Smith, now a two-time Paralympian.
Colin joins Chris Goodrich and Julie Hardt with more generalized experience in para swimming that is not as attached to a current athlete. Goodrich was the head coach of Team USA at the 2023 Parapan American Games and at 2023 World Championships, as well as an education consultation for U.S. Paralympics Swimming. Hardt is a Level 3 U.S. Paralympic Swimming Certified Coach who has coached American delegations on the CITI Para Swimming World Series. Modzelewski has worked the same array of meets, at Words, Parapans and as the head coach for Team USA at the Citi Para Swimming World Series in Scotland.
Team USA Paralympic Swimming Staff
- James Barone, Chelsea Piers Swim Team
- Ben Colin, University of Northern Iowa/Panther Aquatics Club
- Kris Goodrich, Milford Athletic Club/The Sports Club of Novi
- Julie Hardt, Carson Tigersharks
- Marty Hendrick, Swim Fort Lauderdale
- George Leatherman, U.S. Paralympics Swimming
- Patrick McCloskey, Nitro Swimming
- Dave Modzelewski, YMCA of the North Shore Sharks