Pitt senior to coach Shaler swim teams

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, December 4, 2022 | 11:01 AM

Maddie London believed she had something to offer the athletes on the Shaler swim team.

The current Pitt swimmer has had many experiences with coaching and hopes to make a positive impact for the Titans.

London, a native of Collierville, Tenn., started her swimming career at Arkansas before transferring to Pitt. She had never coached varsity swimming before taking the job with Shaler. London was looking for an opportunity to help pay for graduate school next year.

“I’ve coached summer league before, but mostly with younger age groups,” London said. “I was able to do some research on them and wanted to find out what they’ve done, good or bad, to help them.”

The Titans will have 20 swimmers out for the program this season. Noah Long is a returning WPIAL qualifier who scored team points for Shaler by placing 14th in the 400 freestyle with a time of 5 minutes, 1.17 seconds.

Lorenzo Basa and Long were also part of a 200-yard freestyle with Derek Forrester and Jake Bacasa, who have both graduated. Long placed 19th in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:47.38. Shaler’s boys team finished 24th in the WPIAL as a team last year.

The girls team didn’t have any WPIAL qualifiers last season.

London said she’s seen potential with the kids who have come out so far this season. She is hoping to continue to push them to improve.

“There are a lot of areas to improve on,” London said. “We were working on fine tuning the details and they did a good job at the workout. We want them to push each other and keep each other accountable to reach a faster interval. We are also working on breathing control.”

London has a challenge of trying to balance keeping up with swimming for the Panthers while also helping the kids at Shaler. London credited her assistant coaches with helping to keep the program on track.

She believes her experience at the Division I level will help give Shaler a fresh look at the program.

“I was at the University of Arkansas before coming to Pitt, and I could see the difference between the two staffs,” London said. “I think seeing some of the coaching I’ve seen will help me with coaching.”

Tags: Shaler