Peter Casares named CSCAA Men’s Swimming Nationwide Co-Coach of the Year

INDIANAPOLIS — Bates College’s Peter Casares is the CSCAA NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming Co-Coach of the Year, as introduced Tuesday by the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America.

In his nineteenth 12 months on the helm of this system, Casares led the Bobcats to unprecedented heights, with the boys’s swimming crew inserting a program-best sixth on the NCAA Championships final week.

The Bobcats gained two nationwide titles, together with the primary relay to take first place on the nationwide meet in program historical past. On Wednesday, the Bates 400-yard medley relay crew of junior Tim Johnson (Brewster, Mass.), senior captain Marrich Somridhivej (South Windsor, Conn.), sophomore Nate Oppenheim (Easton, Conn.), and senior captain Max Cory (Dublin, Calif.) touched the wall in 3:08.43, profitable the nationwide championship and setting a brand new NCAA Division III file within the occasion.

Somridhivej adopted that up by profitable the nationwide championship within the 100-yard breaststroke on Friday in a NESCAC-record time of 51.82 seconds, the second-fastest mark in NCAA Division III historical past. 

Overall, the Bates males’s swimming crew tallied 185 factors, good for sixth within the nation out of 46 scoring groups.

Casares shares NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming Co-Coach of the Year honors with Denison’s Gregg Parini, because the Big Red gained their seventh NCAA crew title.

This is simply the newest accolade for the long-time Bates coach, as Casares and his assistants have been additionally named the NESCAC Men’s Swimming Coaching Staff of the Year. 

Coach Casares is extremely regarded within the swimming neighborhood, each as a former Division III All-American swimmer and as a devoted coach and recruiter. His management, experience, and fervour for the game have introduced each enthusiasm and nationwide recognition to the Bates program. In 2014, Casares was inducted into the Hall of Honor at his alma mater, Gettysburg College.

“Finishing in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships is something I promised the team we would do 19 years ago during my first team meeting when we were 11th in NESCAC,” Casares stated. “Now, that day is here and I couldn’t be prouder of these men.”