Coach Greg McAtee stays busy with Penguin Swimming

He works year-round with
youngsters ages 4 to 19.

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — Greg McAtee’s alarm buzzes at 4:30 a.m. every day. He’s at YSU’s Beeghly Center pool by 5:30. Practice starts at 6.

Afterward, McAtee drives to Boardman, where he teaches third grade at West Boulevard Elementary. He then drives back to YSU for a 4:30 p.m. practice with the Spartans swim team. He’s there until 8:30 or so.

In between, he has to find time to eat, sleep, grade homework, make lesson plans, answer e-mails and voice mails and, occasionally, do something fun.

“In order to be a good swimmer, there’s no shortcuts,” said McAtee, an assistant at Boardman High who is also the head coach of Penguin Swimming, a USA Swimming club team. “It requires discipline and hard work.”

You could say the same about coaching. McAtee generally gets two weeks off in March and most of August. Otherwise, he’s around a pool year round, working with kids from age 4 to 19.

“It’s tiring at times,” he said. “But I love it.”

And the results speak for themselves.

Penguin Swimming, which began in 1995, has allowed area swimmers to close the gap between them and Ohio schools that have their own swimming pools. It features many of the area’s best high school swimmers and includes standouts such as Canfield’s Eric Davis, Ryan King and Emily King and Boardman’s Conner O’Halloran, Mike Barringer and Ashley Aldan. The YMCA runs a similar program called Y-Neptunes, which features athletes from smaller schools such as Mooney or Columbiana.

“The [Penguin Swimming] program is just awesome,” said Barringer, a senior who was an All-Ohioan last season and has been with Penguin Swimming for seven years. “It does so much for you.”

Penguin Swimming is open to swimmers of every skill level, from learning how to swim to competing as an All-American. It’s intended to develop athletes capable of competing on the Olympic level, although the vast majority (obviously) don’t get that far. McAtee also tries to develop athletes in every stroke. So, if you’re a good freestyler, you’ll still learn the backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke. And if you’re good at 50 yards, you’ll also learn how to swim much longer distances, and vice versa.

“We have a nice relationship with the high school coaches,” said McAtee, who was an assistant under Jackie Bak for two years before taking over in 2003. “We’re on the same page with our training philosophy. The coaches know when their kids are swimming with me, they’re doing what they need to do. And when I get them back after high school season, they’re where they need to be.”

McAtee, who competed in swimming at Westminster College, usually sees the biggest influx of kids around September. (He expects a big boost this year due to the Olympics.) The program consists of two seasons: a short course season that goes from September to mid-March and a long course season that runs from April through August.

Swimmers like Barringer often go from competing against a swimmer from Canfield to being his teammate in a matter of days.

“They’re our friends,” said Barringer. “I like swimming with them in the meets at the end of the year.

“During the high school season, it’s a little different, but when we get on the same team, we have a good time.”

scalzo@vindy.com

XFor more information, visit www.penguinswim.com.