Jared Anderson contributed to this report.
Allison Beebe, the head coach of the First Colony Swim Team in Sugar Land, Texas, has announced that she will resign effective the end of the 2014 long course season. She told the team’s membership of the move in an email on Thursday, and confirmed to SwimSwam on Friday morning.
“I’m going to be coaching the Santa Clara Swim Club with coach John Bitter,” Beebe said of her future plans. “I’m still very invested in the team here, and I want my swimmers to have their best seasons this summer.”
“It’s definitely a bittersweet event. I love the program [at First Colony], and it was a very difficult decision. [the departure] was very amicable…I love the families here, they’re very important to me.”
When Beebe began with the program 9 years ago, it didn’t have a single swimmer qualified for NCSA Junior Nationals. In under a decade, Beebe and her staff have turned the team into a USA Swimming Club Excellence program “silver medal club,” meaning that it is ranked as one of the top 100 clubs in the country.
The best-known swimmer to come out of the program in Beebe’s tenure is high school senior and Stanford commit Simone Manuel. In 2013, Manuel swam to a 7th-place finish in the 50 meter freestyle at the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain and earned a gold medal as a prelims-only swimmer on the 400 free relay. Both came just past her 17th birthday.
Manuel, who will be wrapping up her time with FCST just as Beebe is this summer, also holds 5 National Age Group Records in the 15-16 and 17-18 age groups.
While Manuel is the best swimmer to come out of the club in the last 9 years, she’s not the only successful one to do so. The program has become a hotbed for Division I talent. Names that stand out are Maddie Locus at Georgia, Skylar Smith at Texas, Eegan Groome at Missouri, and Romy Landeck at Texas A&M.
In addition to Manuel’s many national honors, First Colony also put an open water swimmer, Daniel Graviss, on the 2012-2013 Open Water Junior National Team. The women’s team placed 25th at this year’s NCSA Junior Nationals, and went on shortly after to win the prestigious NASA National Jr. Cup in Clearwater, Florida.
Prior to her time at First Colony, Beebe was the Head Age Group Coach at the City of Mobile Swim Association, where she was voted the Southeastern Age Group Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2005.
The Santa Clara Swim Club, Beebe’s future employer, is famous for among other things hosting the annual Santa Clara Grand Prix. That club has a huge resume of elite swimmers having passed through its doors, including names like Eric Ress, Tom Jager, Linda Jezek, Pablo Morales, and more recently rising talents like Aidan Burns, Alex Wold, Sam Shimomura, and Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou.
The Santa Clara Swim Club is located just a short 17-mile drive from Stanford University: the future home of the aforementioned Manuel.
Way to girl, they should never overlook us.
Allison has always been a dedicated coach to every swimmer that shared the same passion for the sport that she herself exhibits–I know because I have witnessed this since I swam with her in college. Good Luck Beebe!
I am a head coach of a team with over 300swimmers. I currently leave my home early and get home around eight each day. I probably get about 20-50 emails a day. I try to provide an environment for my swimmers which will encourage them to reach their full potential. Not always the easiest thing to do. I can’t attend every single practice of a multi site team. Reading the above comments the coach can’t be all things to all people. Many times we are dealing with less than optimal conditions. I feel the team is doing pretty good if we have qualified, caring coaches who are on time and do their jobs. I don’t think ag parents understand the… Read more »
I was very sad to hear that Allison is leaving FCST and Gulf Swimming. In all of my dealings with her, she has been professional, demonstrated the utmost care for all athletes and acted with the highest level of integrity. Along with other Gulf Swimming Coach leaders, she has been an architect of change within Gulf Swimming. If an organization is to continue to improve, then changes must happen. Sometimes change is uncomfortable, a bit scary and can challenge individuals. I have no inside knowledge of FCST – only looking from the outside at an organization that continues to produce excellent athletes.
Being a Head Coach my self, I know the trials and tribulations that accompany the job. Most… Read more »
I have 2 kids swimming at Santa Clara Swim Club, New Allison coach will bring a new air and experience in our team and we have a great respect to FCST team.
The only new air and experience she brought served to destroy SCSC. Glad she is finally gone from Santa Clara.
The success that coach Allison has brought FTSC will give them quite a few options for a new coach. Program was ok before but shes taken it to a different level
The new coach will have their work cut out for them.
Nothing more entertaining than a thread of “comments” from an array of individuals.
We aren’t promised that we will all be treated the same…that we will all share the same experiences…or that we will all understand why “this” happened and that “didn’t”. Life’s a lot of things, but fair is not one of them.
This thread has become tit for tat. Positive experiences vs Negative experiences…vs the “I’ve never had a personal experience” experiences (but I still have a comment).
It’s not black and white. It’s actually pretty colorful.
And I guarantee some pretty colorful things will come FCST’s way as well as AB’s way. Best wishes to both…
End Scene.
I can’t imagine what Allison will be thinking or feeling when she walks on the Santa Clara deck for the first time as a coach. The history and legacy from that club is unrivaled. The number of Olympic medalists and GOLD medalists is enough to shiver over. To now be a part of that history is unbelievable. Good for her!