Bruce Gemmell Named 2014 ASCA Coach of the Year

Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott

JACKSONVILLE, Florida, September 12. FOR the second straight year, Nation’s Capital’s Bruce Gemmell has been named the American Swim Coaches Association (ASCA) Swim Coach of the Year for his astonishing work with the incomparable Katie Ledecky.

A year after mentoring Ledecky to her first Swimming World World Swimmer of the Year for her four gold-medal performance at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, Gemmell took the ASCA award again after Ledecky completely revolutionized women’s distance swimming with five astounding world record performances throughout the summer.

In a year capped with five gold medals at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships, Ledecky twice set the women’s 400-meter freestyle and 1500-meter freestyle world records as well as lowered her own 800-meter freestyle record once.

She opened her unreal long course season with a jaw-dropping performance at The Woodlands Senior Invite. At the in-season meet in Texas, she set the world record in the 800 free by taking her 8:13.86 from Barcelona down to an even 8:11.00. She also dropped more than two seconds off her 1500-meter freestyle record from Barcelona (15:36.53) with her sizzling 15:34.23 in Texas.

She wasn’t done, however, as she managed to put on a show at both the U.S. Nationals and Pan Pacific Championships. In Irvine, she became the first person since Janet Evans to hold the women’s 400, 800 and 1500 freestyle world records concurrently by posting a 3:58.86 in the women’s 400-meter free. That swim beat Federica Pellegrini’s 2009 world record of 3:59.15.

Ledecky followed up with an epic meet in Australia at Pan Pacs. She lowered her 400-meter freestyle mark even further with a 3:58.37, while also chopping a brain-rattling six seconds off her world record in the 1500 free (15:34.23) with a blistering time of 15:28.36. Her efforts in Australia gained her Swimmer of the Meet honors, and made her an early favorite for another Swimming World World Swimmer of the Year title this December.

Gemmell won the award from among a Mount Rushmore of coaching nominees in North Baltimore’s Bob Bowman, Michigan’s Mike Bottom, SwimMAC’s David Marsh, Stanford’s Greg Meehan and Florida’s Gregg Troy.

Katie Ledecky’s International Medals:

2012 Olympics

Gold – 800 free

2013 Worlds

Gold – 400 free
Gold – 800 free
Gold – 1500 free
Gold – 800 free relay

2014 Pan Pacs

Gold – 200 free
Gold – 400 free
Gold – 800 free
Gold – 1500 free
Gold – 800 free relay

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Big Fan of NCAP

9 years ago

A couple nice pics of John Flanagan assoc with that article!

Jeff Commings

9 years ago

Reply to Big Fan of NCAP

Sorry about that! We had a few photos incorrectly tagged.