The following is a press release courtesy of NXTSports.
NXTsports and the Episcopal Academy Aquatic Club are pleased to announce the hire of Chris Lear as the EAAC’s Assistant Director.
Lear has been a mainstay on powerhouse Germantown Academy’s coaching staff for more than 20 years as legendary coach Dick Shoulberg’s top assistant and, for one season, as head coach. Lear has carved out a reputation as one of the top swimming coaches in the country.
Under his tutelage, five GA athletes qualified for the Olympic Games in addition to several more qualifying for the World Championships, Pan Pacific Games, Pan-Am Games, World University Games and Goodwill Games. The girls’ varsity team were tabbed Swimming World’s Mythical National Champions in 1994 and 2005.
“We’ve had experience with him on the other side of the pool,” EAAC Director and Episcopal Academy coach Quincy Hyson said. “Chris is a big piece of what they built at GA. He’s worked with just about every top swimmer that’s come through and the kids respond to him as much as anyone else there. When he left GA, we weren’t even looking for someone, but there was no way we could have him out there and not try to get him to coach. We both agreed that if he was looking for a place, we’d take him. He can help take the program to another level.”
Lear will work hand-in-hand with Hyson and EAAC Director Brian Kline to help develop a cutting-edge curriculum to help take the EAAC to new heights.
“My coaching philosophy is that it’s all about the hard work that you put in,” Lear said. “The sport needs to be fun, especially when you’re trying to develop kids. As they get older, you want to change the view of the fun. You not only want it to be fun to come to practice and play games, but as you get older, you change it to make swimming and practice fun to compete in. It starts from the beginning. We need to start getting kids from an early age to see that there’s more to swimming than just coming to the pool every night.”
Congrats to my old fishing buddy!