(Note: A special thanks to coach Jeff Kincaid of SEVA for giving me the heads-up on this merger. Mr. Keith's original article was posted yesterday at swimswam.com, and edited for posting here at VPS)
By Braden Keith and Jim McGrath
The Coast Guard Blue Dolphins (CGBD) and SEVA Seahawks, two of the top USA Swimming club teams in Hampton Roads, have agreed to merge swimming operations under one umbrella, effective September 1 of this year. The combined team is expected to have more than 325 year-round swimmers and 20 employees serving Newport News and surrounding areas in Southeast Virginia.
At the 2020 Virginia Senior Championships in early March, one of the final meets before competition across the country was halted, the CGBD team finished 3rd overall while SEVA finished 13th overall.
Jack Bierie of the Coast Guard Blue Dolphins will emerge as the head coach of the combined program.
“I am very excited about the unification of the two programs,” Bierie said. “I feel that combining our coaching staffs and programs will have a positive impact on the swimming community and make us one of the premier programs in the US. It has been a long time coming and I look forward to working with their staff and families.”
Bierie, a 1984 US Olympic Trials qualifier, joined the team’s coaching staff in 2006. He works under the club’s CEO and senior coach Steven Hennessy. Hennessy has been with the club since 2000 and served in his current position since 2008.
“Bringing together the talent, experience, and spirit of each organization will create a new chemistry of swimming excellence on the Peninsula,” Hennessy said. “Discussed many times in the past, we have finally made it happen because of the vision, courage, and determination of the leadership of both teams. Unifying our programs is exciting for the swimmers, the families, coaches, and our swimming community. Working alongside outstanding swimmers, families, and staff as one is a dream come true for those of us who have labored long at creating a united program.”
Dave Henderson, the head coach of SEVA, also expressed excitement about the merger.
“It is exciting to start working with the combined resources of both teams including swimmers, staff, and member parents,” Henderson said. “Together, we will offer expanded programming and achieve a higher level of competitive success. The combination of our programs will offer the Peninsula and Hampton Roads community learn-to-swim, stroke technique instruction, Masters (adult) swimming and additional options for youth competitive swimming. We will have programs for very young children all the way to adults that are well into their 90’s and all ages in between. The staff will become the most experienced not only in our area but in the United States. Our community will benefit the most and will want to be a part of the team. I look forward to being a part of a new beginning.”
Henderson has 37 years of coaching experience and was the head coach at SEVA for 18 years. His primary on-deck focus is the team’s age group elite program.
Among CGBD’s most accomplished alumni is 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Christine Marshall, who trained with the Blue Dolphins in her youth until matriculating to Texas A&M, and continued to represent the club at the USA Swimming competition.
A spokesperson for the club says that the conversation began in late January of 2020, before the global coronavirus pandemic took hold in the US, and that the new club has started practicing.
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