re: UA Volleyball, Soccer, Track, Tennis, Swim/Diving, Rowing

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Good grief! Why is the swimming program so toxic?

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So, my coach I signed to compete for quit 2 days before I left for campus freshman year I only found out before I left because my aunt in Colorado saw it in the transactions section of the USA Today From there we have had a pretty steady program for 2 decades. In case you see me bash a coach for quitting/leaving, I have strong opinions about that type situation, based on real life experience.

Swimming is a more difficult sport than most realize, and I've seen some real assholes rise to the top of the profession... almost like it was a requisite. I swam were Mac Jones went to school, and Corky Rogers was extremely succesful at his job. Dude was a saint compared to the swim coach as far as yelling at athletes. Same coach I'm talking about won US swim coach of the year a couple weeks back. I'll also acknowledge he's chilled out quite a bit since moving to college and now the international swim league. I've already had a younger teammate removed from a head coaching job at a college for being abusive, like she grew up seeing. Won a copper medal at the olympics (4th place) and fired from a scrub college that was fundamentally beneath her qualifications.

I know a kid who coaches now, was actually struck by his swim coach. It took another 1.5 decades of sexual harassment allegations to get Mitch Ivey his lifetime ban from the sport. Coached some great swimmers and won silver and a bronze in back to back Olympics... was absolutely horrified his last few coaching jobs were at high schools. The epitome of an abusive coach.

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And pardon my ignorance Moar but the Diving team is a separate team from the rest of the swimming team? How does that work? We have multiple head coaches?

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It is swimming AND diving thrown together, similar to track and field. You get 9.9 scholarships to fill out your team how you want, 14 if you're a woman. So honestly speaking, I just don't know much about diving, or what makes a good coach. I do know their tenure normally continues on, even if the swim coach gets changed. 2 or 3 diving coaches ago we had Pat Greenwell. Dude coached us from 87 until 2016, had 5 or 6 SEC coach of the year honors and 1 NCAA diving coach of the year honor. He outlasted many swim coaches.

I also was very familiar with UF's former diving coach. He had been coaching there 35+ years when he unexpectedly passed in a boating accident. 1 time ncaa coach of the year and probably damn near 10 time sec coach of the year awards. If you're good, they're gonna try to keep you forever.

As per the coaching power structure, I've been noticing the use of associate head coach more and more frequently. Swim coach deals with the swimmers and dive coach deals with the divers. We occasionally would do dryland training together, and time in the weight room lol, but there just isn't a lot of crossover in specific training needs. So it's kind of a separate but equal scenario. I'm gonna say 99% of the time the swim coach is who gets final say when doing scheduling, but there is some leeway for additional outside scheduling.

Last weekend was a good example of this, auburn had a diving only invitational we attended. Not all swim meets come with diving, especially US swimming sanctioned meets that we may attend in season. After conference championships divers have a couple qualfying competitions before making it to NCAAs, swimming it's just did you swim under x:xx.xx time at any point this season. We do compete together at dual meets, conference, at NCAAs. The diving makes for a great time break after a few swimming events have gone on.

Hopefully I didn't ramble on too much and lose you... and I actually answered the questions you were asking about. Like I said last time, feel free to keep asking away if I didn't quite cover what you were curious about.

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gymnastics, tennis

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Definitely great sports to compare it to. Ultimately they're setup so by the time you're like 12-13, you may be spending as much time training as you spend in school. That's insane, but it definitely fosters an environment where sports are "the most important thing in your life." Thus this big name coach can dictate your life, with little questioning on how/why, as long as you're performing well. Many grow up thinking that is somehow normal, or even acceptable... and just end up passing it on to the next generation.

Alabama Athletics Quietly Made History This Week

One of the final major coaching barriers with the Crimson Tide was broken with little fanfare, which may have been the most important part of it.

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The University of Alabama athletic department quietly made history on Monday when announcing that it had hired a new coach, Rashinda Reed, to take over the Crimson Tide volleyball program.

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Rashinda Reed Adds Matt Scott and Chelsi Carter to Alabama Volleyball Coaching Staff

Alabama volleyball head coach Rashinda Reed announced the addition of Associate Head Coach Matt Scott and Assistant Coach Chelsi Carter to her Crimson Tide coaching staff.

Alabama’s Kevin Li Earns 1-meter Win on Day Two of the Tennessee Diving Invitational

The senior All-American used a season-best mark to come away with the Crimson Tide’s first title of the four-day event

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Alabama's Kevin Li used a season-best score to win the 1-meter springboard on day two of the Tennessee Diving Invitational in Knoxville, Tenn. His win was one of five top-12 finishes for the Crimson Tide on the day.

Li took the win after totaling 366.25 points in the 1-meter finals, moving up nine spots from his 10th-place prelims finish, where he scored 291.20 points. Mohamed Farouk finished fourth off the 1-meter board after scoring 332.45 points in the finals, moving up two spots from prelims where he was sixth with 320.00 points.

Tanesha Lucoe posted her second bronze-medal finish of the meet, taking third in the finals of the 3-meter springboard with a score 298.75. Lucoe moved up four places in finals after finishing seventh with 277.80 points in prelims. Natalie Donkle and Halia Bower also made the finals of the 3-meter board, with Donkle taking sixth with a score of 281.95, while Bower was 11th after tallying 252.20 points. Donkle's 281.95 in finals was a season-best mark.

Alabama Posts a Trio of Top-10 Finishes on Day Three of the Tennessee Diving Invitational

Alabama's Mohamed Farouk, Tanesha Lucoe and Courtney Russo all finished in the top-10 on day three of the Tennessee Diving Invitational in Knoxville, Tenn.

Lucoe was fifth and Russo was sixth in the women's platform event, while Farouk was seventh in the men's 3-meter springboard. Lucoe scored 226.25 points over five dives, while Russo totaled a season-best 223.95 points. Farouk tallied 339.45 points in finals after scoring 333.00 in prelims.

Alabama Track and Field Opens 2022 Indoor Season with a Pair of Meets in Birmingham

The Crimson Tide gets the 2022 indoor season started with the Blazer Invitational on Friday and the Vulcan Invitational on Saturday, with both meets being held at the Birmingham Crossplex

Alabama Swimming and Diving Closes Dual Meet Season Saturday at Home with Auburn

The Alabama swimming and diving teams will close the dual meet season with the Auburn Tigers Saturday at 10 a.m. CT in the Alabama Aquatic Center.

The Crimson Tide will also celebrate the 18 swimmers and divers who are in their senior season prior to the start of the meet. The men's class includes Jonathan Berneburg, Cole Brown, Hunter Jaynes, Gil Kiesler, Kevin Li, Nicholas Perera, Tyler Sesvold and John Shelstad. The women's senior contingent is made up of Kalia Antoniou, Halia Bower, Alli Boyd, Natalie Donkle, Morgan Liberto, Kensey McMahon, Morgan Scott, Ashley Voelkerding, Rhyan White and Cat Wright.

Alabama Track and Field Opens Indoor Season with Strong Showing at Blazer Invitational

Alabama track and field got the 2022 indoor season off to a strong start in its opener in the Blazer Invitational at the Birmingham Crossplex, in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday.

The Crimson Tide began the season with five individual wins and 20 top-three finishes, as well as two school records, a facility record and two new meet standards.

Bobby Colantonio Jr. enjoyed a huge day, opening his season with a school and Birmingham Crossplex record in the men's weight throw with a mark of 24.15 meters on the way to the win. His mark, which bettered his own record set in 2020, is the first over 24 meters for a Crimson Tide thrower and ranks seventh all-time in NCAA history.

Chelsea Igberaese also started off 2022 with a school record, breaking Beth Mallory's 2005 mark in the women's weight throw with a toss of 20.54 meters.

Isaac Odugbesan got the season started by winning the first event of the day, the men's shot put, with matching throws of 20.48 in his last two attempts, setting and then tying the meet record with a mark that was just .02 off the school standard he set last season.

Leander Forbes added another meet record to the Tide's haul when he won the 500 meters in a time of 1:01.43. Hillary Cheruiyot earned his first indoor win wearing the crimson and white of Alabama, running a 4:07.17 to finish first in the mile. Mason Phillips gave the Alabama men a win in their first running event of the day when he took top honors in the 60 meters in a time of 6.73.