In addition to announcing a 28-swimmer roster for the 2021 Short Course World Championships, the United States has also announced a 5 person coaching staff that will make the trip to Abu Dhabi for the meet that runs from December 16-21.
The staff will be led by Dave Salo, who is currently working in his role as head coach emeritus at Irvine Novaquatics. He will lead a staff of collegiate assistant and club coaches, as has become a tradition for this meet. While most major U.S. staffs are made up of collegiate head coaches, who are the head coaches of the programs producing most of the team members, the timing of this meet makes it hard for collegiate head coaches to disappear for 10 days.
That provides a valuable opportunity for up-and-coming coaches, though, who might be the next generation of long course World Championship or Olympic coaches.
2021 U.S. Short Course World Championships Staff:
Head Coach: Dave Salo (Irvine Novaquatics head coach emeritus)
Assistant Coach: Blaire Bachman (Virginia associate head coach)
Assistant Coach: Wyatt Collins (University of Texas)
Assistant Coach: Bruce Marchionda (TAC Titans head coach)
Assistant Coach: Ozzie Quevedo (Alabama associate head coach
There is 1 female, Virginia associate head coach Blaire Bachman, among the staff of 5.
The staff, much like the roster, has shrunk since 2018. In 2018, there were 6 coaches at the meet, including separate head coaches for the men’s and women’s teams.
The head coach Dave Salo has a ton of international coaching experience on his resume. For the U.S., he was the head coach of the US at the 2015, 2013, and 2005 World Championships, and the 2001 Goodwill Games. He has also served as an assistant at the 2012 Olympics, 2010 Short Course World Championships, 2004 Olympics, 2003 World Championships, 2002 Pan Pacific Championships, 2000 Olympics, and 1999 Pan American Games.
He is currently the head coach of the Tokyo Frog Kings of the ISL, and has served on international staffs for a number of other countries as well.
Much of the staff, however, is green as international coaches. These are the biggest international appointments for Collins and Bachman. Quevedo has competed at the Olympics and Pan American Games and has served on a number of other countries’ international staffs, though this is his biggest U.S. staff so far.
The exception is Marchionda, who has a long resume on a number of U.S. staffs, thanks primarily to his work with butterflier Claire Donahue. Donahue is now on his staff with the TAC Titans, where together they coach another butterflier, Claire Curzan. Marchionda was an assistant at the 2019 World Junior Championships, the 2014 Short Course World Championships, and the 2012 Short Course World Championships.
Open Water Staff
Ron Aitken, head coach of the US Short Course World Championships, and Cory Chitwood, an assistant at Indiana, will accompany the roster of 8 open water swimmers for the Marathon Swim World Series 10K stop that will be held in conjunction with the pool swimming meet.
The open water and pool teams will travel together to the UAE.
Originally posted on SwimSwam.com. Click here to Read More.