Head coach Keith Kennedy (kkjrswim@yahoo.com) (B.Bus., Business Admin., University of Cincinnati) began his professional coaching career as an assistant coach for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats after competing there for four years as a varsity swimmer and serving as team captain. There he worked with two future Olympians before becoming Head Coach with Seals Swimming in Maine. He was elected to the Board of Directors of Maine Swimming, served as President of the Maine Swim Coaches Association, and was chosen Maine’s Head Zone Coach for the Eastern Zones. Coach Kennedy was voted as Maine Swim Coach of the Year in 1999, and was one of only seven coaches selected nationally by USA Swimming to mentor with the National Team and Head Coach, Jonty Skinner, at the Olympic training Center in Colorado. Coach Kennedy served as an Elected Delegate to the USA Swimming National Convention in 1998 and 1999, and he was selected for four consecutive years to assist head U.S. Olympic coaches Richard Quick and Skip Kenny at the Stanford National Swim Camp in California prior to the 2000 Olympics.
After moving to Ohio in late 2000 to become both Head Coach and Aquatics Director at St. Francis de Sales High School, (See KnightLife article about Coach Kennedy here) and Head Coach of the Greater Toledo Aquatic Club (GTAC), Coach Kennedy was nominated for Senior Ohio Swim Coach of the Year in 2001, and was voted Northwest Ohio Men’s Coach of the Year in 2003, 2010 & 2011 and Ohio State Division I Coach of the Year in 2010. He was selected as a coach to attend the National USA Swim Camp in 2000 and 2001, was the Camps Coordinator of Ohio Swimming, and has earned his license as a Certified Pool Operator. More recently, he was chosen by the US Paralympics of the US Olympic Committee to serve as National Paralympic Team Coach in preparation for the 2004 Paralympic games in Athens, at the 2005 Paralympic World Cup, Manchester, England, and as US coach for the 2006 World Championships, Durban, South Africa. Under his leadership, GTAC has received the USA Swimming Club of Excellence Award in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 only awarded to the top 1% of swimming clubs nationally, and has been selected as one of only a dozen clubs in Ohio to achieve Level Four under the Club Recognition Program. In April, 2004, two of Coach Kennedy's swimmers, Beth Kolbe and Beth Riggle, were chosen for the 2004 USA Paralympic Team to compete in Athens, Greece, where Beth Riggle achieved a Bronze Medal in the 100 meter breaststroke and a Gold Medal for her part in the 400 meter medley relay. Under his coaching, several swimmers have achieved Junior National, US Open, Senior National and Olympic Trial Cuts. GTAC's Katie Carroll, Susan Johnson and Pat Kennedy competed at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials and Katie, Kylie Gamelier and Ryan McHugh competed at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials. In 2009, Coach Kennedy coached Roman Willets to an Ohio State HS Championship in the 200 free (1:38.69), one of the top times ever swum in Ohio for that event. In 2010, the 400 Free Relay and 200 Medley Relay teams from St Francis won the Ohio State Championship and the team was state runners-up overall. Kennedy was honored as 2010 Ohio State Division I Coach of the Year. In 2011, SFS won all relays and two individual events to be state runners-up also.
Throughout his career, Coach Kennedy has been active in Ohio, Eastern States, and USA Swimming Clinics and participated in the American Swim Coaches Association (ASCA) World Clinics. Under his guidance, swimmers have received greater than $1.5 million in college scholarships, and have achieved World Rankings. As part of his outreach efforts, Coach Kennedy has initiated and been awarded grants for GTAC’s Boys & Girls Club Outreach Program and Catholic Club Outreach Program, been awarded grants for GTAC’s WaterWorks Program (for disabled children), expanded GTAC's Lessons Program, and created GTAC's Water Safety Education Workbook for teachers of primary grades. GTAC also has become the training site for the Toledo Public Schools Special Olympics Swim program and the Josh Project swim lesson program to prevent drowning among urban children. GTAC has been chosen as a Make-A-Splash liaison by USA Swimming. He has also created a junior high swim league and established GTAC's non-competitive swim program. In 2009, he was awarded the National Disability Swimming Service Award by USA Swimming in recognition of his outstanding work with Paralympic swimmers and in promotion of swimming for disabled persons across the country.
Among the many distinctions that swimmers trained by Coach Kennedy have achieved are the following:
U.S. Pan-American Gold Medalist
Gold Medalist and Bronze Medalist, 2004 Paralympic Games
Two 2004 USA Paralympic Team Members (Beth Kolbe and Beth Riggle)
Top 24, U.S. Olympic Trials Top 16, NCAA Championships (Div I & III)
Speedo Sectional Champions Speedo Sectional Meet Records
FINA World Rankings Maine HS State Champions
Top 16, US Senior Nationals Maine HS Swimmers of the Year
USA Swimming National Top-16 Finalists, US Junior Nationals
US Paralympic National Champions and International Paralympic World Ranking (1st)
US Paralympic American Records US Paralympic National Team Members
USA Swimming Academic All-Americans Maine LSC Team State Champions
Ohio State Senior Champions Maine State Age-Group Records
Finalists, US Open Championships Ohio Swimming LSC Team Champions
Ohio HS State Champions Ohio Swimming Age-Group Champions
St Francis de Sales Varsity Records St Francis de Sales Freshman Records
Northwest Ohio HS Team Champions (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010)
Ohio High School Team State Runners-Up (2010, 2011)