Sergio Lopez Miro is the new man in charge of swimming at Singapore Swimming Association (SSA). The new head coach, together with new assistant coach, Gary Tan, took charge of the first National Training Centre (NTC) training session at the OCBC Aquatic Centre (AQC) today.
Lopez and Gary were at the pool deck at 5.30 am as they welcomed the swimmers that have been accepted to be part of the new National Training Centre Squad.
For the first intake of the NTC Squad, a total of 59 carded athletes were invited to apply, of which 11 are overseas-based and 48 are local-based. A total of 35 athletes applied and 23 were accepted. The first batch of 20 out of 23 athletes began their training today at AQC while 3 athletes (Amanda Lim, Hannah Quek and Darren Chua) chose to continue to train with their existing coach till SEA Games 2015.
Sergio Lopez
“We did not do anything fancy on the first day of training, it was more about getting to know the swimmers”, said Lopez. “Over the next two weeks, it will be about setting up the systems and understanding the swimmers and their schedule and then start planning on how to help the swimmers to qualify for the Southeast Asian Games by March.”
The swimmers were back at AQC again at 4 pm for the second training session of the day, which kicked off with a meeting between the coaches and swimmers.
“The meeting was important as we all needed to sit down together to share the direction and expectations, and the swimmers will also have questions to ask,” said Gary.
A further 10 athletes will be added to the first intake as second batch. Athletes that have made the qualifying times for preliminary accreditation for SEA Games but not carded in 2014, carded athletes in 2014 but did not make the qualifying times for preliminary accreditation for SEA Games or athletes that have made the qualifying criteria for 2015 carding (recommended by SSA and pending review by SSI) will be considered and invited to apply. Athletes will be informed by 15 January if they are successful in their application.
Swimming News courtesy of Singapore Swimming Association.
What a great looking facility! Coach Lopez will be missed here in Florida, but still supported! Thanks SwimSwam for the update.
It will be bloody hard for any other swimming federation to beat to money and perks offered by the Singapore government to Lopez
Now I am wondering if overseas/foreign athletes will be able to join in the trainings if they apply?
Nothing wrong with making big $
I wonder if Andrew Mullen will start training with Sergio soon?
Rumors say he is going to quit college and join NBAC in the spring to train for 2016 OG
I wonder what combination it was: Sergio wanting a change of scenery, a buttload of money, or something else? He did such a fantastic job at Bolles, it’s too bad to see him move. In any case, I hope he does something really great with the Singaporeans.
I think star coaches deserve to get compensated at some point in their careers. Also, all top coaches move around, learn more, and get better b/c they experience new talent in the pool. I can’t believe a DI program didn’t snap him up. I think he’s one of the top 5 coaches on earth.
Who are your top 5 coaches on earth Mel?
Hey Mel, I have to agree with you on that. I hope it was the right decision on his part.
good points and Bolles just can’t pay what a federation would pay. I’m not even sure any club or university could pay what he is worth.
has swimswam reported on the new coach staff at Bolles or any changes in their structure?
I used to live in Jacksonville and although I didn’t swim for Bolles I had several friends who did and don’t quote me on this, but I believe Sergio (as well as other Bolles coaches) did get offers from big D1 programs, but they always turned them down. I was very surprised to find out he was leaving Bolles.
Didn’t Sergio coach at West VA University (D1) prior to Bolles?
He did. IIRC, he did get a huge compensation package boost when he went to Bolles, including things like free tuition for his kids.
West Virginia was also balking at paying for him to add assistant coaches and other upgrades Sergio felt like the program needed to make it to the next level. And if he stayed at WV, they would have gone to the next level since he was getting really good improvement from his athletes there.
IIRC, Sergio’s son (?) got free tuition at Bolles (big perk) and the pay/freedom/lack of college bureaucracy and recruiting was a big reason Sergio didn’t go back to college swimming. WVU refused to cooperate with Sergio when he asked for better facilities (no interest in improving the program) and wasn’t paying enough for his talents.
There is a reason a lot of the best coaches in the world aren’t found at American universities (Bowman, Marsh, Barnier, Sergio, etc.) and there are plenty of D1 coaches who are complete garbage but get by on their recruiting prowess and ability to get money.