Swim Torrance in Torrance, California has hired Julio Zarate as their new head coach. Zarate will leave his old role as the Senior II Lead Coach at the massive SwimMAC Carolina program in Charlotte at the end of the summer long course season.
Zarate says that he hopes to bring a taste of his east coast experiences from his former club, which ranked 2nd nationally in last year’s USA Swimming Club Excellence program, to help bolster the Swim Torrance program’s reputation. Swim Torrance consistently sends swimmers to college scholarships every year, but hasn’t turned out a true star since Vlad Morozov in 2010, who would go on to be an NCAA Champion and U.S. Open Record holder for the USC Trojans.
“The team now has 135 registered swimmers but that number will increase after our registration leading in to the Short Course season,” Zarate said of his new club. “Right now (Swim Torrance’s) highest achieving athletes in the Senior group are Sectional level. Which is obviously a much lower level from what I have been a part of here at SwimMAC but that is a big reason why they are bringing me in. Their age group program is large, growing, and starting to really improve.
As a swimmer, Zarate was a Capital Athletic Conference champion in both the 100 and 200 backstroke and was eventually inducted into the St. Mary’s College of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame. After graduation, he took over as the program’s assistant coach, and also spent 6 years as the head coach of the Chesapeake Bay Aqutics Club.
He joined SwimMAC in May of 2014, where he worked primarily with top-end Sectionals and Futures meet qualifiers who are on the cusp of achieving Junior or Senior Nationals time standards.
Zarate takes over the program for former head coach Tim Murphy, who is no longer with the program. The team’s Head Age Group coach Julie O’Brien has been serving as the interim head coach.
More from coach Zarate on his new opportunity:
For me it is a very exciting opportunity. Seeing the potential of the age group division, working with the current senior group to set up a program that will help them move towards competing on a National level and giving them the skills and path way to swim in College. These are all things that really did exist at Swim Torrance with their current structure. My major job this season is to help create a competitive team structure from the learn to swim/pre-comp side all the way to a senior division that has a logical progression and that promote continuity.
My goal is to create a comprehensive program that pushes the performance level to a place where we are competitive with the best teams in California. Its no secret that I will be using a lot of what I have learned in my last 2 years working with SwimMAC but I will also be taking much from my previous experience as Head Coach of Chesapeake Bay Aquatic Club, and my early coaching experience with Nations Capital(then Curl-Burke) where I also did my club swimming. With it being the beginning of the next quad its a perfect time to set some long term goals for Swim Torrance, the biggest being getting a group of athletes to the next Olympic Trials. In the meantime first step is getting an athlete to Junior Nationals.
The Coaching staff and I have a lot of work to do before we get there but I am confident that as long as we remain focused on the work and on developing young athletes to be passionate about the process we will get there. At the end of the day my main hope beyond any performance goal is for athletes to be able to look back at their time at Swim Torrance and it have been a positive experience. Swimming done right is one of the most fulfilling things you can be a part of. I owe so much to my club coach. He helped change my life for the better by supporting me and teaching me the value of hard work and commitment. That’s why I coach, and if I can help an athlete at Swim Torrance the way my coached helped me then we will be going in the right direction.
No surprise! SwimMAC has been losing all their top coaches!! They have lost at least 3 of the Senior 1 & 2 coaches, and several of the Age Group development coaches in just the last few months. It is no secret that they let go of all non-coaching positions due to financial hardships. They are re-instating fundraising requirements for all families, increasing dues, etc. All the while the morale of the team is failing, coaches/athletes are leaving, and rumors fly about the future of the team itself and the once “Empire” of SwimMAC seems to be crumbling around David Marsh.
I coached alongside Julio for two years, and I can tell you this – Julio Zarate is an fantastic coach. There is no doubt in my mind that Swim Torrance will benefit in a HUGE way by having Julio at the helm. Looking forward to seeing some awesome swimming coming from that team in the very near future!
I have to say that both coach Julie and JD are awesome. Love u and look forward to the next season
From what I’ve heard coach JD is awesome. Hopefully he will never follow in his parents footsteps as corrupt board members. Ask them about the questionable coaches, cheating, lying, threats and retaliation against innocent athletes. They were both board members for years. They had the chance to do the right thing but instead took the slimy way out!
As a member of Swim Torramce the past 2 yrs I am very excited about this opportunity for both parties. My son loved being on this team and is excited about his future in swimming. He has found a true love for the water since he has been on the team.
Who was that board member
She is currently on the Board of Directors for the LSC and has been for years. She helped form Swim Torrance when the YMCA severed ties due to sexual abuse allegations. The families who complained about the abuse were blackballed from the new reformed team. She has always controlled the team with recycled board positions. In 2010, she threatened parents who were talking about NCAA violations. She was on the LSC review board, but chose to walk out of a team board meeting when the other board members were taking a vote on whether or not the team should continue cheating – she should have stopped the vote. She hired questionable coaches (who are no longer coaching anywhere!) and retaliated… Read more »
Maybe the reason USA Swimming and Chuck Weiglus doesn’t help is because your charges are totally unfounded and you are nothing more than a coach from another club trying to make Swim Torrance look bad. Truly pathetic.
Jealous of what? USA Swimming and Chuck Weiglus don’t help because there are many bad apples tied to this board member, some of whom are on the USA Swimming boards. They can’t punish one without punishing the others. Jealous because a coach she hired was fired from his previous coaching job, was fired from his next coaching job, tried to own a USA club, wound up in a high school. Another coach with accusations of sexual abuse wound up coaching in a University. A third coach – coaching high school only. Are these individuals all on the unpublished list? I get it, you don’t care if bad apples wind up in our high schools or colleges. Some people like the… Read more »
Julio was my assistant coach back at SMCM (a decade ago) but I looked up to him a great deal and always went to him for advice (and probably model myself a bit after him as well as a coach at this point). I’m sure Torrance will benefit tremendously from his guidance. Good Luck man!
GOOD LUCK to Zarate!!! Swim Torrance has had 5 Head Coaches in the past 6 years. Their status with the California State Attorney General is Delinquent. The common denominator was a specific HORRIBLE board member – hopefully for ALL – she is no longer involved with the team. This team is in desperate need of a REPUTATION overhaul – they NEGATIVELY affected the lives of many including athletes and coaches!
Interesting, though false, information. Swim Torrance is a good club. Problem is, even if your info was correct, there are not a heck of a lot of other choices. The club to the North-West is fairly full and the major club to the South is run by a pair of mentally-abusive psychopaths. Talk about negatively affecting athletes.
You are telling half-truths and outright lies; Swim Torrance is is a very good club. And even if what you said is true, the major club to the North-West is generally filled up, and the major club to the South is absolutely awful, run by mentally-abusive coaches who should not even get near athletes.
Clearly, your experience at Swim Torrance six years ago has left an unfading mark. Whether or not your call for a reputation overhaul was, at some point, justified I dare not debate. Today, Swim Torrance is growing because the new directors are determined to build the most competitive, value-added and diversified program in California over the next four years. Your comments here seem to serve only one purpose, that is to negatively impact a program that our staff is working hard to implement for our athletes; but they bear no relevance any longer. I ask you to consider the kids, our athletes, and what you might be taking away from them with any of your future interactions in this small… Read more »
The team promotes itself as a 501c(3) non profit. Why is the teams status with the California State Attorney General “delinquent’? This is CURRENT information. Why do the head coaches keep leaving? It seems very unusual to have 5 head coaches in six years (not counting the interim head coaches). I agree with many who have always stated that the team will never succeed as long as this particular woman remains tied to the team. The article states that Zarate hopes to bolster the teams reputation. By your comments, I take it this woman is still on the board. I ask you to consider the kids, your athletes, and what you might be subjecting them to by allowing this woman… Read more »
Adam – Your daughter has only been swimming a year? This board member once said, “People come and go all the time”. These unethical individuals who stay in the swimming community for decades count on people coming and going. This is how they continue the unethical practices. Most people stay around for a few years and then leave. Most people really don’t pay attention and have no idea of what really is going on. Most people stay quiet so their kids are not retaliated against. Unfortunately, USA Swimming has been REALLY slow in weeding out the bad apples. So you’re the new President of Swim Torrance Board of Directors – good luck to you!
Thanks Desiree! I would very much like to have coffee one day and hear about your experience. You know where to find me.
Julio!!!