SANTA BARBARA, Calif., June 23. COACH Ira Klein, longtime coach of the Santa Barbara Swim Club, has accepted the newly-created position of Director of Field Services for USA Swimming, SwimInfo<\/b> has learned. Klein, 51, will take on his new duties on September 1. <\/p>\n
As Director of Field Services, Klein will take the lead in field services development, expanding the services that USA Swimming provides for its clubs; oversee the zone coordinators; and will be responsible for sport development for the Eastern zone.<\/p>\n
Field Services is one of three departments that form the division of Club development, headed by Pat Hogan. The other two departments are Facilities Development and Programs and Services.<\/p>\n
Hogan, former head coach of the Mecklenburg Swim Club, was enthusiastic about having Klein join his administrative team in Colorado Springs: <\/p>\n
\u201cIra is a 30-year club coach with experience at every imaginable level, from YMCAs to elite-level teams, and from parent-run clubs to privately-run, coach-owned organizations.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is in touch with what\u2019s happening at the club level and brings a wealth of experience to his new job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Klein commented: \u201cYes, I\u2019ll definitely miss being on the deck; after all, I\u2019ve been coaching for 30 years. But this challenging new position gives me a chance to do a lot for American swimming, and I look forward to working with people like Pat Hogan, and Mike Unger. Beyond that, after doing the same thing for 30 years, I like the challenge of doing something different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the years, Klein has developed a host of world-class swimmers including Trip Schwenk, Chris Lenahan, Mark Warkentin and Adrienne Binder. He also coached such greats as Mel Stewart.<\/p>\n
Klein said the hardest part of his decision was leaving the Santa Barbara Swim Club: \u201cThis is the best, the most supportive group I\u2019ve ever worked with,\u201d he said. \u201dThey have been incredibly appreciative of my efforts \u2013 I get thanked by 30 people every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hogan predicted, \u201cWith his combination of experience, Ira will be terrific in his new role. He has always been vitally concerned with the best interest of USA Swimming and USA Swimming clubs. He\u2019s the kind of guy who always asks the tough questions. And that\u2019s just what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., June 23. COACH Ira Klein, longtime coach of the Santa Barbara Swim Club, has accepted the newly-created position of Director of Field Services for USA Swimming, SwimInfo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n