Interscholastic Coach of the Month Award - August 2019

We're back with our monthly NISCA Interscholastic Coach of the Month Award, recognizing high school coaces across the country! Coaches are the backbone of any swim team and frequently the unsung heroes of an athlete’s success. They are the instructors, motivators, teachers and role models for many young athletes and swimmers. That’s why it’s important that SwimOutlet.com partners with organizations like the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA). Every month, we recognize a different coach across the U.S. with our SwimOutlet.com Coach of the Month Award.

This month’s SwimOutlet.com Coach of the Month spotlights Brian Burke, a 10-year coaching veteran at Bridgewater-Raynham HS in Bridgewater, MA. Congrats!

Name: Brian Burke

School: Bridgewate-Raynham High School (MA)

Years Coaching: 10 years

Biggest Team Success: Creating an enjoyable team culture where swimmers want to show up, work hard, and enjoy being part of the team. When swimmers enjoy being team members, support one another and understand the purpose of each practice and meet, success in the pool follows. 

Favorite Thing About Coaching: I love that high school swimming brings together swimmers of all different abilities. You have athletes learning the strokes for the first time to experienced swimmers that have been in the sport their whole life. Each swimmer is valuable and plays a role in the outcome of the meet. My favorite thing about coaching is seeing the athletes support each other every step of the way. 

Favorite Drill for Your Team: My favorite drills revolve around posture, line, and balance. Maintaining a good body position in the water is the primary focus of most of our drills. For a specific drill, I tend to love the breaststroke and like having my swimmers do the breaststroke pull with dolphin kick drill to emphasize the hyper streamline.