The Arkansas Dolphins Swim Team, also known as the Dolphin-Laser Swim Team, has split with coach Patrick Nalley just a few weeks before Nationals and Junior Nationals.
Reached for comment this week, Frank Lawrence – part of the club’s ownership group – characterized the split as a mutual parting.
“It just wasn’t a good fit and we decided to move in different directions,” he said. “It was a mutual decision.”
Nalley was listed as the head coach on the team’s website as recently as Sunday, July 19th, but the website has since been updated without Nalley’s name.
Nalley could not be reached for comment.
According to the team website, the Arkansas Dolphins are a multi-site club with about 400 swimmers, including last year’s Winter Junior National Champ in the 100 breast, Blair Bish.
Nalley coached at Penn State University prior to taking the head coaching job with the Dolphins, and prior to that, he was an assistant at Arizona State while serving as head coach of the school’s companion club, Sun Devil Aquatics. He was also a collegiate swimmer at the University of Kentucky.
The club’s website doesn’t list anyone in the official role of CEO/Head Coach that Nalley previously occupied, but the team does still have head coaches of its satellite sites still on staff to finish out the summer season.
We miss you Coach Blair!
I was on this team for 12 years and it’s a phenomenal team. We’ve had a rough time with coaches but that’s due to the large ownership change of the team. No coach can claim they “made” the swimmers they are on this team. Kyle Cormier was the best coach that I swam under unfortunately he couldn’t continue to coach us. The young age group program is our teams hope for the future. They are coming up faster and faster than the senior program I was with and we were great. I’m ready to see the team grow once everything settles down and we get a stable coach. As of now, stop talking down on this team
The Dolphins do not have parents on the ownership board… It’s a well run program managed by exceptionally dedicated USA swimming “lifers”… Been tough since losing Cormier as head senior coach, but they have a phenomenal age group coaching staff who will continue to develop best-in-class athletes. Coach Nally did not make Bish or Rogers (or the dozens of others on the brink of breaking through); they’ll be there before you know it… Good luck Dolphins!
The team has an excellent ownership group and the club has enormous potential. But struggling since Cormier? He was there all of 8 or 9 months. Great coach, but not there long enough to make a lasting impact. The Dolphins have a long storied history, hope those kids catch a break. Two back to back coaches staying 8 months is rough.
LOTS of deadwood in that program, but the timing of the decision was incredibly poor – and that’s being generous. Sadly, from what I understand there is no plan, just a desire to fill the slot, which means another lost season at best.
I belleve it’s the club of young prodigy Andrew Rogers.
I’ve made a few researches and Arkansas age group championships are held this week.
But I can’t find live results of that meet.
Some news of Andrew Rogers? Because NAG records can fall every time he dives in the water.
He is not listed in the meet on meet mobile.
Thanks for the news.
Weird.
He might be going to Zones and skipping State.
Are parents of swimmers on the team owners?
The Dolphins aren’t parent run. They have an ownership group.
How many parent run club’s is it going take before USA Swimming gets control over this flawed system? Head coaches have no chance with parents dictating policy