Sea Lions Hire Next Head Coach
The Sea Lions are excited to announce the hiring of our next Head Coach, Andy Murray. Andy has been coaching with us since the fall of 2018 and will move into this leadership role for the upcoming Winter Session.
Andy is a St. Johns native and works as an Educator in the Owosso School System. In addition, he is a former Sea Lion and a former Redwings swimmer. His experience and talent make him the ideal choice to lead our program. We welcome Andy, his wife Ashley and their two daughters Katelyn and Lizzy to our swim family.
Andy will lead a very talented group of coaches. His goals will include creating a season plan with a strong focus on technique development and making sure all coaches are instructing the swimmers in a similar way with a chance to spend coaching time with all swimmers at some point in the season.
Here is a short list of the qualifications and experience Andy brings to the Sea Lions;
Varsity Swim Coach – Owosso High School Girls Team 2016 – present
Named Lansing Area 2nd Team Coach of the Year 2016
Named Lansing Area Honorable Mention Coach of the Year 2019
Managed a team of 20-30 high school swimmers
Middle School Swim Coach – Owosso Middle School – present
Managed a team of up to 45 middle school swimmers
Planned meet lineups and organized practices
Supervised volunteer swim coaches
15 years experience teaching swim lessons, life guarding and managing the St. Johns City Pool and Grand Rapids Aquatic Center.
Lifeguard, CPR, AED and First Aid Certified
Attended Central States and MISCA Swim Clinics
Continuing Education: Started Level 1 USA Swim Certification
With this announcement we also have to say farewell and thank you to Coach Natalie Longoria. Natalie has been with the Sea Lions for over six years as a board member, a coach and Head Coach since 2018. She is excited to follow her son’s career as he moves onto the Redwings swim team and we are happy that we will still be able to catch her at the pool. Natalie, we will never be able to say thank you enough for what you have done for the Sea Lions, but we will give it our best attempt at the season ending banquet. Natalie leaves the program and our swimmers much stronger than they were when she took over and we can think of no better compliment.
Go Sea Lions!
SJSL Board
