Johnson Is A True HOF Swim Coach | News, Sports, Jobs

In this February 2025 file picture, Bruce Johnson, proper, shares a second with Bill Rollinger on the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame banquet. Johnson swam for Rollinger at Jamestown High School within the early Nineteen Seventies.
Photo courtesy of the CSHOF

Local swimmers had been scheduled to depart very first thing this morning for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Championships.

Among the athletes from Chautauqua County who will compete on the Section VI crew are Landon Frederes, Logan Johnson, Grady Moore, Miles Moore and Mike Rambacher of Frewsburg/Southwestern/Jamestown/Falconer; and Kody Howard of Panama/Clymer/Sherman.

For these six younger males, the weekend at Ithaca College is a reward for his or her continued excellence, in addition to a affirmation that their usually grueling practices have been price each lap within the pool.

Friday and Saturday may even be a reward for the teaching workers of every program. Their shared information and dedication have helped their swimmers attain the final word aim.

For Bears head coach Bruce Johnson, it’s been what looks like an annual journey for, oh, 50 years, give or take.

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Two minutes, 48 seconds.

That was the size of the speech Johnson gave the evening — three years in the past — that he was inducted into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame.

Not surprisingly, he was his standard humble self, spending his whole time on the podium thanking all who helped him alongside his teaching journey.

And what a visit it’s been.

Here’s a small sampling of Johnson’s accomplishments:

¯ Started Frewsburg’s swimming program in 1977.

¯ Served as Section VI ladies chairman for 25 years.

¯ Served as Frewsburg athletic director for 9 years.

¯ Coached greater than 25 NYSPHSAA meet qualifiers.

¯ Brought STAR Swimming to Jamestown.

And, with all of that, he introduced an ordinary of excellence, each out and in of the pool.

Last 12 months was only one instance.

When Johnson’s 2025 state qualifiers arrived at Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium, the longtime coach had loads of expectations, however he additionally knew that there have been no ensures.

“A million things can happen,” he instructed me, “and most of them are not good.”

Yet when Connor Dean, then a senior who’s now swimming at New York University, the Moores, Frederes and senior Daniel Peterson, who’s now swimming at Jamestown Community College, left the Ithaca campus, that they had swept the three public college relays. The 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay had been each new state information and All-American instances; and the 400-yard freestyle relay was the third All-American clocking.

“The whole idea of putting together relays that fast was never in my normal thought process,” Johnson stated then. “It’s hard to fathom. I never thought we’d go that quick. We just kept getting a little faster and a little faster. They wanted those relays so badly. … It was electric.”

Combined with Dean’s win and All-American recognition within the 200-yard particular person medley; and Miles Moore’s second-place end within the 50-yard freestyle, which earned him All-American consideration, it was fairly a day for the general public college crew champions and Johnson, who referred to as the accomplishments “overwhelming.”

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In December 2024, three months earlier than the memorable weekend at Ithaca, Johnson was enshrined into the Section VI Hall of Fame, giving him two inductions in lower than two years.

And, actually, each honors may have come even earlier, as a result of few have coached swimming with the constant success charges that Johnson has had over such an prolonged time frame

For as excellent as his skilled resume is, nevertheless, it’s his humbleness and his character that really outline him. Let us return to the acceptance speech he gave on the Lakewood Rod & Gun Club in 2023, the evening he was inducted into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame.

Said Johnson: “To the hundreds of young men and women who have given up countless hours to train and represent our program so well, I can’t express how much I appreciate your devotion. You see, I’ve never won a race, been awarded a medal or broken a record. It was the swimmers who did it all.”