PVS Coaches in list of nominees for 2019 ASCA Age Group Coach of the Year!

By: Reach for the Wall Staff, photo and some content republished with permission from Fitter and Faster

Since 2014, in  coordination with the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) annual conference, Fitter & Faster sponsors an award for the ‘Age Group Coach of the Year’. From the Fitter & Faster website, here’s the criteria for selection:

” For 2019, we are presenting the top 50 age group coaches based on scoring USA Swimming’s national top 20 rankings for age groups 9-10, and 11-12. Included in the consideration is the number of #1 rankings, the number of different individuals ranked in the top 20, and the total number of rankings in the top 20.”

This year the ASCA World Conference was held in Dallas, Texas and the awards ceremony took place on Thursday September 5th. Two coaches from PVS made the list of 50 nominees:

• Kevin Pan / Dragon Swim Team
• Meghan Thiel / Nation’s Capital Swim Club

There was an online voting process that took place from June (when the top 50 were announced) through the end of August, culminating in the announcement Thursday. Megan Oesting of Eastern Iowa Swim Federation was named the American Swimming Coaches Association’s 2019 Fitter and Faster Age Group Coach of the Year. The 20-year coaching veteran from Iowa was selected from an original group of 50 nominees that was then whittled down to ten finalists based on the results of public voting online. Oesting produced two swimmers (Mason Turner and Parker Macho) with a total of five number-one rankings for the year on USA Swimming’s national age group lists. Her swimmers appeared 23 times among the nation’s top-20 for 2019. No other nominated coach had more than 19 top-20 swims and only one other had 5 number-ones.