COLLEGE SWIMMING YSU's Bak gets Olympic position

The fourth-year Penguin coach will work the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State swimming and diving coach Jackie Bak was recently invited to be a member of the 2004 Olympic Games staff.
Bak will coach at "Duel in the Pool", a dual meet against Australia in 2003, the 2003 FINA World Championships in Barcelona and the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
"This is the ultimate achievement in amateur athletics," Bak said. "It is a great opportunity for me to represent Youngstown State at the international level."
Bak coached Team USA at the 2002 FINA World Championships, helping the Americans set three world records, seven American records and earn 26 medals despite taking just 26 athletes. She coached 13 Olympic medalists from the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, and three 2001 world champions.
Involved in USA Swimming
Bak, in her fourth year as coach of YSU's swimming and diving team, has been involved with USA Swimming since taking a position as business manager with the national team in 1998. She also worked with the national distance camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., and was a part of the national distance team staff in 2001.
Bak competed at the University of Pennsylvania where she broke two team records, was an Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference finalist as a junior and a national qualifier as a senior.
Began coaching in 1994
She began coaching in 1994 as an assistant at Texas A & amp;M. Later she served three seasons as head assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at American University.
Bak also spent two summers working at Stanford University's national swim camp. In 2001, Bak was selected as the Lake Erie Zone Coach for the USA Central Zone Championships.
Bak is in her second season as coach for Penguin Swimming. She has coached 11 sectional qualifiers, three U.S. Open qualifiers and eight of the top 16 nationally-ranked athletes.
Bak was nationally ranked in 1994 by United States Masters Swimming as the top competitor in the 100-meter backstroke. In 1999, Bak received a fifth-place national ranking in the 100-yard butterfly.