Framingham Frogs Win Suburban League Title; Go Undefeated

For the first time in five years, the Framingham Parks & Recreation Swim Team finished the season undefeated.

This was the first Summer Suburban League Championship for Framingham Frogs Coach Shawn O’Leary.

O’Leary took over the summer team 5 years ago. Until this year, the team has finished second in the league behind arch-rival Newton.

This year, Framingham snapped Newton’s 52-meet winning streak. The Frogs defeated the Newton Blue Fish 250.5 to 230.5 on July 22.

“Beating Newton was extra special. We always prepare as best we can for that meet. For the last 5 years we’ve prepared and yet it was always the one loss in the loss column. I don’t want to say we got used to losing, but we seemed to shake it off easier every year,” said O’Leary. “They’ve dominated to the point where we felt that there was nothing to hang your head over a loss to Newton. They may be a better team, I don’t know for sure. I do know they’re really really good, but we were better that day and this year. We won all the close races and in swimming that’s what the hungrier team does. That’s was a great moment for everyone. I was so proud of our team and coaches that day.”

The Framingham Frogs went undefeated 11-0 this summer.

The Frogs also re-captured the James E. Ehrlich Mile Swim Title. Newton captured the titled last year, but the Frogs won their 10th title in 11 years last month.

“Aside from going undefeated and being league champions, the season and this team was special in not what we accomplished but how we accomplished it,” said O’Leary, a Framingham resident. “Our greatest successes were achieved in maximum adversity. We lost the mile swim for the first time in many years last year. We returned this year and won, with half of the swimmers competing in it for the first time. It seemed unlikely we would regain or title this year but we did. We were heavy underdogs against Newton and swimming them at home. Home teams have huge advantages because it’s hard to get good attendance for away meets. We won against all odds. We could have swam 10 meets against them and they might win 7 of 10. But not this year! It was a special year in those ways.”

Yesterday, at the Frogs year-end celebration Coach O’Leary thanked the parents for their support and for getting swimmers to all the practices and the home and away meets. O’Leary, whose son and daughter are on the team, said the season could not have happened without them.

Parents said O’Leary’s knowledge and competitive spirit make him a great coach, but it is personality and ability to get to know his swimmers that make him special.

“Coach Shawn has a clear knowledge of swim technique and training,” said Sandy Dupcak, whose son and daughter both swim on the team. “He puts a tremendous effort into mentoring the assistant coaches, as well as creating a team environment that is competitive, educational, and fun. Shawn spends hours planning team lineups and figuring out how to get the best out of the swimmers.”

“Coach Shawn is amazing,” said parent Christina Julakis, whose daughter and son are on the team. “He’s not just the coach of a team, he cares about every swimmer and will work endlessly to help them achieve their individual goals.”

His swimmers agree, too.

“Shawn has helped me become a better swimmer by always supporting me,” said middle school swimmer Marley DeSimone. “He also makes an effort to get to know all of the swimmers on the team. He makes it really fun and stresses the importance of being a team.”

O’Leary, a competitive swimmer himself still, said he “always enjoyed coaching and teaching. As a young swimmer I often assisted coaching the younger swimmers on my club team.”

He said what motivates him to be a good coach “are actually the negative coaching influences in my past. Those negative situations taught me about what not to do as a coach and inspired me to be not only a better coach but a better person.”

O’Leary, whose son and daughter are one the team, said “having an understanding of how you can have an effect on a young person’s life is my inspiration to coach.”

He said the what he enjoys most about coaching the Framingham Frogs is the “interactions with an age range from 6 to 19. It’s like being a parent and experiencing all those ages and there stages at the same time. As my own kids get older I’m still able to experience those younger ages. With the older group, ​I kind of get a look into the future of what my kids will experience as they get older. The range of ages is also the biggest challenge.”

One challenge of coaching is “communicating in a way in which you’re reaching an 8 year old and a 18 year old with the same message.”

“It’s also very unique to this team,” said O’Leary.

The Framingham Frogs is a co-ed swim team, with swimmers from age 6 to 18.

“I’m not sure there is another sport with such a diverse range of ages on the same team.” ​

And for many parents, there is no other coach like O’Leary.

“His years of devotion to the Framingham Swim Team, as a swimmer and head coach, are a true testament to his dedication to the sport and the development of young athletes,” said Dupcak.