New Churchill swim coach Mark Jedow gives instructions during a recent swim practice session. Photo by John Albright

By Pat Turner
Contributing Writer

Mark Jedow refers to himself as a Connecticut Yankee, but when it comes to swimming he is true blue San Antonian and proud of it.

The way the Southbury, Conn., native sees it, this city is the ideal place for someone who loves coaching swimmers. And Jedow has the resume’ to prove his point during his 13 years with the North East Independent School District.

He helped Ryan Kafer win a gold medal in his first year at Lee in 1993 and built the Volunteers into one of the top 10 programs in Texas. When he began Reagan’s program in 1999, Jedow guided the girls’ team to three straight Class 5A titles.

After a three-year stint as swim coach of the North Country Aquatic Club in Hanover, N.H., he returned as North East Aquatics Team coach, molding the squad into a nationally ranked program. Now, Jedow is getting a chance to experience more rewarding moments as Churchill’s new swim coach.

Replacing coaching legend Al Marks, who led the Chargers to nine Class 5A championships (six boys, three girls), 51 district championships, 38 regional titles and 120 All-Americans, might sound like a pressure-packed situation. To Jedow, it is the ideal chance to do what he enjoys – coaching.

“This is an outstanding opportunity,” Jedow said. “I love the tradition here. I love the attitude the coaches have for athletics. The coaches are here for the kids. We’re not here to put another medal around our chests. We’re here to develop the kids to have the skills to be successful in life.”

Jedow has an advantage as the new Churchill coach. During his time as the NEAT coach, he worked with the majority of the current Charger swimmers.

This past summer he helped Lily Moldenhauer prepare for the U.S. Olympic trials, and also worked with Kim Pavlin, who competed for the Croatian National Team.

From what he sees the wealth of talent is still present. In addition to Moldenhauer and Pavlin, who finished third in the 100 backstroke and fourth in the 200 indvidual medley at last year’s 5A state meet, the girls’ team returns Becca Ploetz, Meghann McGoldrick, Jennifer Ince and divers Becca St. Germain and Sharon Finn.

The boys’ team features Alex Seward, who swam on Churchill’s 5A champion 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay, Nick Masterson (200 medley relay) and Brady Garner (400 relay).

In addition, there’s a solid crop of freshmen who could make an instant impact. So far, the Churchill coach likes what he sees. The Chargers competed in a pentathlon last past month and produced encouraging results. Now, they’re working on improving their conditioning and skills.

At the same time, Jedow is focusing on team bonding. A few weeks ago, team members spent a day at a ranch playing games and getting to know one another.

“We want to make it fun,” Jedow said. “That was one of the reasons we went to the ranch. The kids had a great time and we had fantastic parent support, too.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on team identity. We’ve talked with the captains to find out what really works well.”

Although he’s a new coach at Churchill, Jedow plans to use the same approach the Chargers used in achieving success in previous years.

“For one thing, every class before worked hard to gain the admiration they received,” Jedow said. “It was never handed to them. If we continue to do that, we’ll be fine. The good thing about it is we have great leadership from our captains. They love the school and this team.”