Eastern Shore Aquatics Center Announces New Ownership & Coaching Staff
Eastern Shore Aquatics Center (ESAC), formerly Baldwin Mobile Aquatic Club, held an open house recently to kick off the Fall Short-Course swim season. A tremendous turnout registered swimmers not only from throughout Baldwin County, but also Mobile and Clarke Counties. The facility, long a staple alongside Hwy 64 in Belforest, was the first, and remains the only facility in Baldwin County dedicated solely to competitive swim training. Eastern Shore Aquatics Center is home to the USA Swimming, year-round team, Southern Waters Aquatic Team, or SWAT.
ESAC also announces a change in ownership. Head Coach Rich Suhs completed acquisition of the facilities in April of this year. “In 2006, Coach Suhs was brought in to run the aquatic center and serve as head coach while still under the Baldwin Mobile Aquatic Club name,” explained Angie Phillips, President of Eastern Shore Parents Aquatics Foundation, a non-profit organization formed to support the swim team. “We are very pleased and feel extremely fortunate that he hasmade this wonderful commitment to our program and community.” Coach Suhs looks forward to the opportunity as well. “Owning the facility requires a tremendousamount of dedication and commitment to our swimmers and their families, versus simply being employed by the organization as its head coach; but it’s a commitment that I am more than willing to make.” Although privately owned, ESAC has opened its doors to surrounding communities, serving as the current practice facility for the Robertsdale High School swim team as well as the Daphne High School swim team. “One of the great advantages to being a privately-held facility” says Coach Suhs, “is the scheduling flexibility that allows us to serve the needs of the community and further support competitive swimming in the area.”
Coach Suhs has over 30 years of swim coaching experience, with over 12 years of experience as a head coach at several successful swim programs throughout the country. Most recently, Australian national swim team head coach Dave Kelsheimer tapped Suhs to assistant coach at the 14th Annual Landon Von Kanel Memorial International Gold Medal Swim Camp held this past June in Biloxi. Suhs also instructs PE at Christ the King School in Daphne.
Suhs says, “Goal setting, and a belief that every swimmer can accomplish more than they believe is possible...” are ideas that he attempts to instill in every one of his swimmers. Supporting Coach Suhs are Assistant Coaches Lauren Bonfe, Dean Burns and Kathleen Nord Feldvoss, each accomplished swimmers in their own right. Elizabeth Jennings, a P.E. coach at W. J. Carroll Intermediate School, serves as the Swim Lesson and Pre-Competitive Swimming Program Coach.
The Eastern Shore Parents Aquatics Foundation operates ESAC that offers swimming lessons for all ages, tri-athlete training, master’s swimming, lap swimming, high school swimming, and summer league swimming. For more information about the available programs, visit
http://www.esaquatics.org/
or call 251-625-0950.
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Cutline: Left to right: Assistant Coach & Olympic Gold Medalist Kathleen Nord Feldvoss, Head Coach Richard C. Suhs, Assistant Coach & former University of Kansas swim team Co-Captain Lauren Bonfe, and Assistant Coach Dean Burns of Michigan |
