Youth swimming coach from Aspinwall honored as one of nation’s best

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, September 20, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Jim Skirboll has slowly had to let go of some of his favorite references. Skirboll, a 60-year-old Aspinwall resident, has spent 38 years coaching swimming. The owner of Racer X Aquatics has had to alter his messaging.

“My style hasn’t changed too much over the years,” Skirboll said. “I’ve had to let go of some of the references I used from the 1970s and ’80s. The kids don’t know those ones now.”

Skirboll was recently recognized by the American Swimming Coaches Association and Fitter & Faster Swim Camps as one of the top five age group coaches in the United States.

Skirboll has around 65 athletes in his program who are divided into four classifications: gold, junior gold, silver and bronze teams. The teams consist of swimmers who are 18 and under.

“Getting the award is pretty cool,” Skirboll said. “But it’s really a team award. It only happens because of the work the kids put in.”

The Racer X website notes that 19 swimmers from the team reached the collegiate swimming ranks from 2016-2022.

Skirboll said that he helps the swimmers set plans for their training by coming up with lists of goals. It gives everyone an opportunity for self-reflection.

To help prevent things from being repetitive, Skirboll mixes in more out-of-the-pool workouts. All of the things they do in training are in pursuit of trying to reach their goals.

“Seeing the joy on their faces when they hit a best time is what excites me,” Skirboll said. “When someone is into the race and going after a best time, I’m yelling the loudest, cheering them on.”

Skirboll, who swam in high school and college, still has a great amount of passion for the sport. He enjoyed having an opportunity to coach his daughter, Zoe, who is a senior at the University of Virginia this year.

She competed in the Olympic trials twice and was a member of a Cavaliers’ swimming team that has won five consecutive national championships.

Jim Skirboll, who coaches six days a week, said he still enjoys trying to motivate young swimmers to reach their goals, but it can be the most difficult part as well.

Skirboll will ask the swimmers to rate their own effort in practice on a scale from one to nine.

“Some are honest and some will write numbers where I’ll think, ‘Really?’” Skirboll said. “I want to push the envelope in practice and try to help the kids reach their goals.”

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