Michael Collins Named Head Swim Coach at Mater Dei High

SANTA ANA, California, September 30. MICHAEL Collins, who has served as the head coach of the Nova Masters Swim Program in Irvine since 2000, has been named head coach of the boys and girls swim teams at Mater Dei High School.

Collins has 25 years of experience coaching swimmers of all ages and abilities including high school, college, Masters and even Olympic athletes. Over the years, his teams and individual swimmers have achieved great success, and he has received numerous coaching awards including United States Masters Swimming Coach of the Year (1990), Pacific Masters Swimming Coach of the Year (1991), Southern Pacific Masters Coach of the Year (2001), and California Community College Bay Valley Conference Coach of the Year (1995).

Collins coached at UCLA for four years and has worked at several national development camps for USA Triathlon held at the Olympic Training Centers in Colorado Springs and Chula Vista.

"I am excited about the experience, professionalism and wealth of knowledge Mike Collins will bring as head coach of the Mater Dei swim teams," said Chris Segesman, the school's director of aquatics. "We are impressed by his understanding of advancements in training, technique, underwater video analysis and other technology that will be beneficial to the development of our student-athletes and growth of the Mater Dei swim program."

Collins will lead an experienced team of swimmers including 12 returning boys varsity swimmers and 13 returning girls varsity swimmers. The Monarchs have set their sights on capturing the program's first Trinity League Championship. With recorded-breaking alumni such as Patrick White (USC) and Melissa Bates (Cal), the Monarchs have quite a tradition of excellence to uphold. Since the 2008 season, there are only two remaining school records that stood for decades. Collins and the team are anxious to get to work to break those remaining records and continue building the program.

"I am excited to take on this new challenge to build the caliber of the swimming program to match the high standards set by several of the other sports programs at Mater Dei," Collins said. "I look forward to working closely with Coach Segesman to build the strongest aquatics program in the country, and develop well-rounded athletes ready to compete at the next level."

The Monarch's season will open March 3 at home against Marina, 3:15 p.m. at the William Lyon Homes Aquatics Center.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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