Garrett McCaffrey has stepped down as head coach of the Phoenix Swim Club after nearly a decade with the club. McCaffrey confirmed the news on Thursday.
“I’m proud of all we accomplished in the last 10 years at Phoenix Swim Club and grateful for all the people who were part of it,” he said. “My watch is ended.”
McCaffrey was a collegiate swimmer at the University of Washington and University of Missouri. He was also a co-founder of SwimSwam News.
The Phoenix Swim Club doesn’t currently list a head coach or interim head coach. Takahisa Ide continues to be listed as Head Masters Coach, and Ken Maczuga is listed as the Head Age Group Coach. Phoenix Swim Club is based out of Paradise Valley, Arizona, and has won two Arizona Senior State Championships during McCaffrey’s tenure with the club.
Only seeing this article now, but just wanted to speak to what an amazing job Garrett has done at PSC and how sad I am to see him go. I trained with a pure USRPT coach at PSC in my high school days (guess who…) and subsequently went to a high-volume college team that prioritized yardage over quality. I was so burned out whenever I came home for a break, but when I trained with Garrett, I genuinely felt renewed and revived in the sport. He helped me set short-term goals during the periods I was there with him and, to be completely honest, I felt that he was more invested in me as a swimmer and as a person… Read more »
Yep.
Garrett will always be 100% invested in a swimmer in and out of the pool. Our family is so fortunate that our daughter had/has him as a coach, mentor & friend. His positive impact on so many swimmers will be his legacy in the Phoenix swimming world. One of the VERY best.
Absolutely agree, Tina.
Great guy and a great coach, wish him the best in the next chapter of his life. Hope PSC can find a suitable replacement as well.
Much better article than SwimmingWorld and the trash they produce. SwimmingWorld is such a joke with their biased writing and trying to make more money for their partners. In my opinion, SwimSwam does a good job at stating the facts (and the comments give the juicy details). So thank you SwimSwam for attempting to provide facts (at least more often than SwimmingWorld).
Garrett is an awesome person that truly cares about the athletes and not just his own results as a coach. And he’s had to deal with some coaches that had those priorities reversed and to the detriment to many athletes. Whatever he decides on his pathway forward, I hope he remains in the sport and continues to… Read more »
I posted a comment on his site when I saw how biased his “article” was. Needless to say, he deleted it. For fun, I’ll post my response here.
Talk about a biased article. Give me a break. When you report, might want to stick to facts instead of editorializing a story that should be news. Statements like:
“ The Marlin program embraced traditional training with their long and rich history in producing outstanding young men and women that excel in and out of the pool. McCaffrey chose to embrace the untested theories of USRPT. The split in training methods was a unique experiment in club culture that many in the swimming world thought was doomed from the beginning.”
And you call this… Read more »
Absolutely agree; that SwimmingWorld article was an embarrassment to swim journalism. What have Mike and Ken Maczuga done besides cultivating a little regional club that produces fast swimmers from time to time? To suggest that Garrett was somehow less deserving of the head position is shallow and misrepresented. Being the head of a program is more than just coaching the top swimmers in a program. He fostered a staff of young coaches that have all moved on to bigger and better things and GM never stood in the way. Frankly, his commitment to his swimmers is only rivaled by his commitment to his staff. His coaching tree is greater than the Marlins and therefore one could argue that his impact… Read more »
Absolutely AGREE.
Since the beginning PSC has fostered an environment that only cares about the parent’s agendas and not the swimmers. This has been displayed time and time again, stemming from the PSC board making serious and hidden decisions without letting any of the members or swimmers know. As long as the board continues to make these hidden decisions that aren’t in the best interest of their athletes, PSC will be doomed as a club.
Totally agree! Garrett is an incredible coach that has impacted so many lives. His athletes are so lucky to have such a positive role model. Best of luck to Garrett in his future endeavors!
100% Garrett is an amazing coach who has changed the lives of so many swimmers, including myself. Sad to see him go but I hope that he continues to make an impact in the sport.
How can you say that? The last coach was there for almost 10 years. It has been around since the middle 80’s and continues to thrive. Has it had issues? Of course it has, every club does. If I had a dollar for every time, I’ve heard that, I’d be a very wealthy man. Go to the other swimming site and spout that off, he loves to hear it because obviously he has the same agenda. It’s a great club with some tough times and will continue to be.
Someone obviously has not been around PSC the past few years, I support Garrett and believe that he was one of the many last good things about PSC as he truly made PSC a team and not just a group of swimmers. I do believe that it is a great club but the parents who continue to make such an amazing club a toxic community will always be an issue unless change is enacted.
So what was the “sticking” point that caused him to step away?
I believe Garrett was the longest lasting coach in the history of Phoenix Swim Club (formerly Phoenician). When they lost that beautiful pool, they were able to relocate without skipping a beat. Think of the names of the people (and I know I’ll miss a few…) that have coached there: Denny Pursley, Pierre Lafontaine, Ray Looze, Mike Bottom, Dave Gibson, Coley Stickels. Who did I miss?
I always enjoyed our conversations on deck during meets. He’s a GREAT guy that’s ALWAYS willing to talk about training and swimming! He’ll land in a good spot, I’m confident of that!
So what’s your take on why so many had such short stays as head coach?
There are lots of reasons these coaches left. Some are coaching issues, some are professional moves. Pierre left to go coach at the Australian Institute of Sport after his Olympic success at PSC, Bottom was only there for Olympic sprint team in 2000 and was never a permanent (Gary Hall hired him), Coley was a not a good fit for the club as a whole, great with his group but a swim club has a lot more than 20 sprinters and he didn’t want to be bothered with being an entire club head coach, Denny went to run USA Swimming, Dave saw a lot of swimmer leave for SAC since he was a pretty one dimensional coach and the board… Read more »
Psycho parents?
Not sure…I would have to ask one of the longtime AZ coaches as to why…but unfortunately Charlie no longer engages in the comment section. I know Ray got the Pacific University job and that’s why he left. Bottom possibly went to CAL as an assistant after PSC. I believe Pierre went back to Canada and got a position on the National Team. I think Denny went to Great Britain???? Coley maybe went to Crow Canyon??? But I’m guessing on some of these…
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Garrett land a College Asst position.
10 years!!
Best of luck to Garrett in the future. He deserved better than what he got; a genuine coach who cared as much about his swimmer’s progress out of the pool as well as in it.
Yes…he was a great coach and is a genuinely good man.
Any word if this was his decision? Or kindly told to move on?