Merrin Richardson jumps right in as Twinsburg swimming coach

Merrin Richardson had no qualms at all about jumping right into the water – literally – as a first-year head coach for the Twinsburg boys and girls swimming and diving program.

Along with new assistant coach and Tiger graduate Meredith Nock, a ton of energy is present as well focus on things like yoga workouts, unique drills and complex carbs.

Thrust into a challenging late addition coaching role, featuring some fun and a ton of work, Richardson jumped right in.

Twinsburg saw Richardson and Nock quickly take on the rigors of over 45 co-ed athletes.

Leaping into the pool, Richardson got to work. With limited time until the regular season, there was plenty of work to done, but everyone had to meet each other. Faith and trust were critical.

On day one of getting to know the kids, Richardson jumped into the pool.

“I got in the water with the kids on the first day of just team bonding and a short practice,” explained Richardson. “They couldn’t believe I was getting into the water with them. I asked them, how do you know I can even swim if I don’t get in the water. They said no coach had ever gotten in the water with them.”

“Then on the last day of that first week, I jumped in on some fun relays at the end of practice and I dove off the block and sprinted a 25-meter free (freestyle swim),” pointed out Richardson. “They couldn’t believe I could actually swim. I think it was after that they had some faith in me.”

About four weeks before the season, Richardson was asked to coach the team. She was a little hesitant at first.

“I was hoping the district could find a more current swim coach in the district as it had been a decade since my last swim coach role,” said Richardson. “That didn’t happen so a week before the season began, I took the position to at least get the team in the water and training.”

At first, it was just Richardson.

Then assistant coach Meredith Nock, a 2015 Twinsburg grad, arrived on the scene after completing all of her required coursework to coach at Twinsburg. Nock was part of the first two league swimming titles that the Tiger program won.

“I didn’t have my assistant coach, Meredith, until two weeks into the season,” said Richardson. “It was just me and over 40 swimmers, at least one-third had not been on a swim team before.”

Richardson has been in the district for over 27 years teaching Physical Education at Twinsburg High and two of those years she also taught Health. She had been a lifeguard, a Water Safety Instructor, Lifeguard Instructor, Aquatic Fitness Instructor, Licensed Certified Pool Operator, and a swim coach for three different youth teams in the Cleveland area.

“Most of the kids didn’t even know me because they are not taking PE classes at THS,” said Richardson. “They were very unsure about how their season was going to be successful.”

“Seniors were worried that after going through the years of COVID, they still weren’t going to have a good season,” she added. “New swimmers were terrified of not knowing what to expect, and whether they should even trust me.”

Richardson was an integral part of the PE program having an Aquatics/Lifeguard Training class. For over 10 years, she would train and certify high school students to become lifeguards for the City of Twinsburg.

Back in 1992-93, Richardson was the Lake Erie AAU Swimming Chairperson and Meet Director for Lake Erie AAU Swimming Championships. She also coached volleyball and track in the district.

Richardson started the Twinsburg Step Team in 1999 and coached that for over 10 years. She is currently the advisor to the Minority Student Union, and co-advisor to the Black History Clubs and Blue Diamonds Dance Team at THS.

Besides the numbers game, Nock’s presence is making a huge impact too.

“Things got much better after Coach Meredith arrived and her high school swimming experience at THS is what I lacked,” said Richardson.

“She (Nock) designs the workouts daily, and I get the swimmers started with those workouts until she arrives, and she puts hours of her time into the meet lineups.”

“I mostly work with the newer swimmers in lanes 1-3 because I have more of a teaching background and I am working on correcting and teaching each stroke so those swimmers will be more valuable and versatile to the team next year,” noted the coach. “Some didn’t even know how to dive at the beginning of the season, or perform all four strokes. Coach Meredith works mostly with lanes 3-4 to push them through their workouts with intensity. Lane five has our top swimmers who are very independent and self-motivated.”

Without a second assistant coach, the program is still working well and Nock is excited.

“Swimming has been a part of my life from a very young age,” Nock stressed. “Part of the 2015 class, at the time, Twinsburg was a part of the Northeast Ohio Conference. During my junior year the girls and boys team won the first ever Conference title in Twinsburg swimming history. The girls team then went on my senior year to win the Conference again.”

Nock went to Slippery Rock University (PA) to major in Early Childhood and Special Education.

“My first three years at college, I was part of the club swim team,” said Nock, who currently teaches first grade at Hawken Lower School.

Twinsburg’s new staff also focuses on core strength drills, proper warm ups and has featured an in influx of things like yoga warm ups, positivity, and energy-based nutrition.

“We added yoga to our dryland warm ups over the winter break and that has improved flexibility and core strength,” noted Richardson. “Nutrition has been a big focus. Getting the swimmers to eat complex carbs for sustained energy before practice and meets has been educational and motivational.”

“Now all we hear being repeated is complex carbs as the swimmers show us their snacks,” she laughed.

Twinsburg’s diving team had some positive results along with the swimmers at the recent Suburban League Championships.

Senior Cece Radicelli, the girls’ standout diver along with freshman boys’ leader Jake Gahagan competed. Radicelli’s junior brother, Matt Radicelli, is a swimmer who also started diving this year.

Gahagan placed fifth in his first-ever league championship meet with a mark of 133.90 in the National Conference Division of the SL. He was 10th overall.

Cece Radicelli placed eighth in the SL National and 12th overall with a score of 252.35. Matt Radicelli had a season-best 120.15 in the Dec. 14 meet against Chagrin Falls.

“This part of the season is focused on refinement of strokes, starts, turns and pull outs in order to cut time wherever possible,” explained Richardson. “We also have to keep the team motivated to finish out the year. We want it to be a fun experience each day so the swimmers WANT to come to practice every day and improve.”

This winter has been all about improvement, learning and having some fun with team meals, athletes of the week honors, team comradery, and having some unique relays for laughs.

“The team wanted to really focus on bonding more this year and I believe that has happened,” stressed Richardson.

“Transitioning from a swimmer to a swim coach has been exciting and I am happy to be back in the swim world,” said Nock.

“Coach Meredith and I have bonded easily and the swimmers seem to feed off of that. Our swimmers know our strengths and weaknesses as coaches. They know which coach to go to for whatever they need at that time.”

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Richardson gets late start, but shines as Twinsburg swimming coach