Shawn will do a great job. He is bright and very motivated. He’s going to work hard. He will be inheriting some tremendous talent and will have a brand-new facility to work with very soon. It’s an exciting time for Wasatch swim. – Steve Marsing
HEBER CITY — Over the past eight years, the Wasatch High School swim teams have added multiple trophies to the case that line the hallway outside the school’s gymnasium.
The head of those teams was lifelong swim guru Steve Marsing. Marsing had more than maintained a strong swimming tradition at the high school since his arrival in 2008 — he raised the bar, both in and out of the pool.
Following the Wasps’ Region 8 dual championships at the end of January, Marsing stood before his young swimmers and announced that he would be retiring as the head swim coach at Wasatch.
Citing the time necessary to put into the program now as his main reason for moving forward into his “second retirement," the high school’s health teacher simply said the swim team now needs “someone like I used to be.”
“It was just time,” Marsing said. “I’d thought about it for a while. I had many really thoughtful and supportive discussions with principal (Shawn) Kelly about it. With the demands on the schedule that these kids really need year around, it was just going to be hard for me to continue the way it’s expected — the way I expect.”
Marsing added that there was never going to be a perfect time to leave the coaching ranks. “It was hard,” he said. “I’m tearing up now just thinking about it. You get so attached to these kids and you feel so good about the influence that you’ve had on them. It's just an emotional process that you have to go through. I just felt it was time to let someone else take over.”
After the search that reached beyond statewide, that someone was recently chosen by the administration. Beginning next fall, Shawn Marsing will step into the head coaching shoes his father has filled for nearly a decade.
Kelly and athletic director Claire Mair introduced the new high school swim coach recently in front of a crowded lecture hall at the high school.
“It’s important to us to find the very best coaches and teachers that we can find and this time is no exception,” Kelly said. “We are excited to introduce coach Shawn Marsing as the new head swim coach for our high school. He is an amazing coach, teacher and young man, and we expect great things to continue for our swimming program.”
The incoming coach shared his philosophies on coaching swimming and building a successful program, his love for teaching history and sprinkled in some personal information about himself and his family.
“I’m so excited for this opportunity,” Marsing said. “It’s a dream come true to be able to come to a community like this and get to work for such a great program and administration. I really feel blessed by that. We had that at Hunter. Great support for swimming from the administration. It makes all the difference in the world.”
Coincidentally, it will be the second time the son has taken over for the father in the Marsing coaching ranks. In 2005, Shawn stepped in for his then-retiring dad at Hunter High School. After having nurtured a budding swim program for 16 years, the elder Marsing left for an administration position at Skyline High School, leaving the door open for his son who seemed destined for coaching himself.
“I learned so much about coaching and teaching back then,” he added. “I was young and it was my first real job. I think we did some really great things there and I’m just really looking forward to the challenges ahead here at Wasatch.”
The junior Marsing, who won two region and two 5A state championships at Hunter, has coached swimming full-time since then and was instrumental in building the West Valley Aquatics club into a swimming powerhouse. He has the same intentions for his new swimming teams at Wasatch.
“We’re going to have a strong club team,” he said. “Along with our high school team, which we will work hard to keep at the top, we’re going to help build swimmers. We’re going to be good and we’re going to have a lot of fun doing it.”
The Wasatch swimming community is hoping the younger Marsing will bring the same level of success that his father was able to garner during his tenure.
When Steven Marsing arrived at Wasatch, he already had two state championships, 10 state runners-up and 23 region titles. He added to those numbers in 2011, when the Wasatch women’s team took state. In 2013, both the men and women earned the state crown, giving Marsing his only dual championships.
In recent years, the Marsings have opened their season schedules with a non-conference swim meet the pair dubbed, “The Battle for the Paddle.” It was a fun way to compete against one another while still preparing their respective teams for the upcoming season.
“It was always a lot of fun to do that,” stated the elder coach. “What started as a little bragging right deal between Shawn and I became something the kids really looked forward to. I will miss that for sure.”
As for the pressure of taking the reigns from his father for the second time, Marsing only had praise for the man he claims taught him everything.
“I can’t begin to tell you how much my father has meant to me,” Marsing said. “He’s taught me so much about so many things, and not only swimming-wise, but in life and in teaching. He will always be my mentor. I’m proud to take over what he’s been able to accomplish here at Wasatch.”
For the retiring Marsing, looking back, it hasn’t been the three state titles, the four second-place finishes at state or even the 12 region championships he reeled in as a Wasp that he will cherish the most. It’s the relationships with his swimmers.
“It’s the kids that make this all possible,” Marsing stated. “For me — for any coach — you have to just be a good example. If you’re doing things right and setting a good example for these young people, they will do anything for you. The more you show them that you care, the more they will give back.”
The elder Marsing, who next year will be just “the freshman health teacher” and not the champion swim coach, feels the program he has overseen the last eight years is in great shape.
“Shawn will do a great job,” said his father. “He is bright and very motivated. He’s going to work hard. He will be inheriting some tremendous talent and will have a brand-new facility to work with very soon. It’s an exciting time for Wasatch swim.”
“It’ll be fun to see him in the hallways and work with him as a teacher,” he added. “But I’ll stay out of his way as the swim coach. It’s his to put his stamp on now.”
Kenny Bristow is the sports editor and staff sports writer for the Wasatch Wave and contributes to the Deseret News high school coverage for the Wasatch region. Email: kennywbristow@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.