David Berkoff Returning to Coaching With Team Eugene Aquatics

Four-time Olympic medalist David Berkoff could only stay away from the pool deck for so long.

The 55-year-old backstroke pioneer is stepping away from his Montana law practice to return to coaching at Team Eugene Aquatics in Oregon next month. 

“After some soul searching and thinking about where I wanted to be and talking to my wife about it, we both realized that this is probably an opportunity that’s not going to come knocking often — and maybe never again,” Berkoff said. “So I did a trip out to Eugene and met the team and met the kids I’ll be coaching and the other coaches, and I felt right at home. That doesn’t happen a lot for people, so I thought, ‘Okay, this is a message. I got to take this job and run with it.’

“It’s a big move for a guy who’s lived in the same place for 30 years and kind of established roots in Montana,” he continued. “For me to pick up and go somewhere else is scary. Changing careers at this age is kind of tough to do. But swimming is my love. It’s the thing that’s been guiding my life for almost 50 years. To be able to make a good living doing something you love is, I think, everyone’s dream in life. It took me a long time in my working career to get to this point, but I’m really thankful I have this opportunity.”

Berkoff’s last head coaching experience came at Missoula Aquatic Club from 2008-18. During a chunk of that time (2010-14), he also served on USA Swimming’s Board of Directors in the role of technical vice president. Between balancing those two gigs and managing his Berkoff Law Firm, he was working an estimated 3,000 hours per year. 

“My candle was cooked and I needed to change something, especially as my kids were going into college and I wanted to watch them swim,” said Berkoff, whose son, Cale, graduated from Minnesota last year and whose daughter, Katharine, is a senior at NC State. “I knew it was time for me to take a break from coaching. But I’ve been obviously staying in touch with coaches and watching what’s going on. The first thing I do in the morning is get on SwimSwam and see what’s going on. I watch Coleman’s Practice + Pancakes just to watch what coaches are doing. I feel like I’ve tried to stay in the loop as far as the newest and greatest ideas in swimming. I don’t feel like I got out of it other than my interaction with kids.”

The four-year break from coaching was necessary for Berkoff to avoid burnout and fully enjoy his kids’ collegiate swimming careers. Four years later, though, coaching is already calling his name again. He missed having a positive impact on young people, and now he can dedicate 100% of his energy toward his coaching efforts.  

“I had some pretty good mentors; I wish I had more of them who were good in my life,” Berkoff said. “Swimming has given so much to me, it’s time for me to give back in a more substantial way. Working as a part-time head coach, you’re giving about 30% of your effort to the kids. When you’re tired from working all day and you go to another job, your enthusiasm can wane. Getting into it as a full-time job, and the only job I have, makes me really excited to see what I can do. I just missed interacting with young people and helping them get through the tough times in life — helping craft and mold young people into great young people and young adults.”

The four-time Olympic medalist and two-time NCAA champion will bring his signature “Berkoff Blastoff” to a new generation of swimmers in the Pacific Northwest. A Harvard standout, Berkoff is credited with revolutionizing backstroke with his dolphin kick and bringing the underwater portion of swimming to the forefront of the sport. He held the 100-meter backstroke world record for three full years from 1988-91. 

While at Missoula Aquatic Club, he helped develop multiple Junior National and National Finalists as well as four Olympic Trials qualifiers. Now Berkoff has his sights set on turning Team Eugene Aquatics into a premier senior program in the Northwest. 

“It was kind of a dream job for me,” Berkoff said. “It’s in the Northwest, it’s in a really cool town. The program has grown substantially over the last few years and has a real potential for becoming a premier senior program in the Northwest. That was really what I was looking for as my retirement dream.”

Berkoff is encouraged by the engaged coaching staff at Team Eugene Aquatics as well as the club’s large number of younger swimmers, which he believes is the foundation for a successful program. 

“In my experience, the more you have feeding into the pipeline, the better chance you can develop a really strong team culture and team environment where kids are succeeding,” he said. “There’s a reason why big programs tend to have really good swimmers, the large number of kids develops a culture of team excellence. I’m really excited about the coaches, too. I got to meet all of them and they seem really connected to the kids and dedicated to what they’re doing.”

Although Berkoff is leaving the legal field, the lessons he learned as a lawyer should continue to serve him well as a senior coach in Eugene. 

“The one thing the law teaches you is patience and how to see the other side of the dispute,” he said. “Even if you don’t necessarily agree with it, it forces you to at least understand where the other side is coming from. I think the law has taught me a lot in that regard, and the liability side of things — what to do and not to do. A lot of those legal issues that I think people are scared to even touch on are second nature to me.”