Big Fish in a Talented Pond

With each precise stroke through water made by Bob Bantley, Jenna Johns or any of the Jensen brothers, the smile on Geoff Scheuer's face grows bigger.

The widening grin represents many years spent poolside at the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club, where Scheuer helps kids aged 6 to 18 hone their swimming skills in a year-round teaching and training environment.

"That is by far my favorite aspect of coaching swimming," said Scheuer, who is also the assistant coach of the high school boys' team. "You get to know these kids, and it's an amazing journey, and it's awesome to witness that. To work with them on a daily basis, and to see them develop as swimmers and people is very fulfilling."

Each boy and girl comes with specific desires, starting with improvement of times through the season, qualifying for A-champs or Junior Olympics, winning high school district and state championships, to earning spots on top collegiate programs and the ultimate carrot: qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team.

"Seeing how hard these kids work and how much they want to be here is all you need to know about the kind of coach Geoff is, and how much he means to our program," said Mark Luttmann, president of the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club. "He's the heart-and-soul of our program. He's done so much across all age groups and has such a vision for what they can accomplish."

The past few months have meant greater challenges for Scheuer, who went from coach to overseeing the program, a new role for him and UDAC. In addition to the training, which he will still provide, Scheuer's job will ultimately be to shape the character of the program and establish a winning atmosphere.

"I want to take the program to a national level," Scheuer said. "I want to have swimmers represent Upper Dublin regularly at national meets. A lot has to start at the lower levels to get to that point. You have to establish character first, and that's what I’m about as a coach. I want our kids to be hardworking, respectful and value the process. From all of that, they become strong swimmers. If you're surrounded by champions, you're going to swim like a champion."

In Bantley, Scheuer sees a multifaceted swimmer who excels in freestyle and backstroke. The 17-year-old has goals that include qualifying for Olympic trials; this summer, he missed the cut by a second and half.

"He could get there by the end of this winter," Scheuer said. "He's been swimming well this season, so I have every confidence of him being able to get there."

Johns is already a special talent at age 12. She came to UDAC as a nine-year-old, and is starting to realize her potential, Scheuer said. She ended last winter as the fourth fastest butterflier in the country for girls age 11 and under, which is USA Swimming's largest age group.

"She's looking beyond her current surroundings, and is starting to realize she can go so much beyond that," Scheuer said. "There was a little while there when I was afraid she was going to develop that big fish in a small pond mentally, but she's seeing the bigger pond and wants to be a bigger fish in that pond."

As a group, UDAC has reached the peak of another season, recently hosting the 22-team Suburban Aquatic League finals. North Penn edged UDAC and earned league bragging rights with wins for the boys and girls teams, which went undefeated and won the American Conference.

However, the SAL Championships are scheduled for Feb 11-12 at La Salle University for swimming and Central Bucks South for diving.

"We have such a ridiculously strong staff," Scheuer said, referring to UDAC's 15 coaches. "When it comes to the training of the kids, there is little I need to do beyond my training group because I know the other coaches have it under control. I can't express how awesome that is. This is easily the best staff of coaches we've had."

Because if you're surrounded by champions, you'll swim like champions.

"Swimming teaches you so much about life," Scheuer said. "You need an incredible work ethic. You need incredible discipline and incredible focus to improve at swimming, and at life. If you can do that, you can excel in any area."