Mark Schubert, Former U.S. Coach, Assisting China At Asian Games

Mark Schubert is back on the pool deck, this time wearing the flag of a different country.

The former U.S. national swim team coach is working for the Chinese team in what he calls a year as a part-time adviser, according to The News Tribune and The Associated Press.

Schubert was let go as U.S. national coach in 2010 when he and Chuck Wielgus, USA Swimming’s Executive Director, had a dispute over Schubert’s job performance.

“It’s feels strange, very strange,” Schubert told The Associated Press on Wednesday at the Asian Games.

Schubert took over the head coach position with the Mission Viejo Nadadores in 2016 and was instrumental in the renovation of that iconic facility.

Schubert told the AP his current deal ends after the Asian Games. It might continue. “It’s up to them,” he told the AP. ”You know there is some pretty good money involved,” he said, declining to say how much. “It feels funny, but you know I was kicked to the curb when I was fired as head national team coach. So it’s nice to be involved at this level.”

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5 years ago

Given how many years Schubert coached Americans while they competed against drugged up Chinese athletes I am surprised he took the money and ran with it. You can look to the women’s 400 IM as recently as 2012 to know that there are still some issues in Chinese swimming. I wouldn’t say he has gone to the dark side to avenge his getting ” kicked to the curb” but he is definitely on the shady side of the street.

Steve Friederang

5 years ago

Mark has never been involved, to my knowledge, with coaching a drugged swimmer. Certainly the US has had a few, but not from his teams. I had this same trouble when I hired Xiaohong Wang as my assistant in Carson City. People made accusations they couldn’t back up about a swimmer who was tested again and again in her four years at UNLV. To say Mark in on the dark side is not fair or substantiated. I would also back him up on the other matter — there is no real proof he could have done more to stop the alleged wrongdoing between a coach and swimmer who wasn’t on his team. I admire coaches who step up and take National and International positions, but to expect them to rule over every coach-swimmer relationship is insanity. If he or anyone in authority witnesses a bad or illegal relationship that’s one thing, but a coach who backs coaches before proven guilty in a court of law is doing the right thing. Lawyers and bad parents want to blame others for their lack of care or usefulness. That doesn’t make them right. As John Leonard has said — parents need to be close to their swimmers. Expecting someone based in Colorado Springs to act on a potentially unsubstantiated claim in Fullerton is not fair or even right.

Back to China — I believe Mark can teach the Chinese to win legally. They never needed to cheat. The Germans taught them they did but that was because the Germans felt they needed to cheat so that a country the size of Oregon could dominate sport. The Chinese have a population base that should, by the math, dominate swimming. We should have him in the right place in USA Swimming, but, if not, he is free to win elsewhere. It’s what he does.

GFG

5 years ago

If the Chinese pay Schubert more money than the Mission Viejo Nadadores do, on what side of the Pacific will his allegiance lie now and in Tokyo in 2020 ? Pretty sure that isn’t a difficult question to answer.