About:
On September 1, 1995, Jay Fitzgerald became the head coach of Pine Crest School. During this period the Panthers have established a 109-14 dual meet record for the boys and 110-11 record for the girl...
Bragging Rights:
Winning records is exactly why Fitzgerald was recruited to Pine Crest School. Fitzgerald’s teams have won the USA Senior National Championships, Junior National Championships and the YMCA National Championships. He has served as a USA National Team Coach several times since 1982, including the World Championships, Pan American Games, and the World University Games. Fitzgerald has coached 34 swimmers to major International teams, winning 17 Gold, 14 Silver, and 7 Bronze medals at these major competitions. Sixteen have been Olympians, winning 2 Olympic Gold and 2 Olympic Silver medals. He has also been a featured speaker at both USA Swimming Clinics and American Swim Coaches Association clinics. Since arriving at Pine Crest School, Fitzgerald has continued to build on the programs rich and long tradition. The success of his swimmers have led to him winning “Coach of the Year” honors in 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010. In 2005, he was awarded the “ASCA Gold Award of Excellence” for 20 years of coaching a finalist to the USA Swimming National “A” finals. In 2006, Fitzgerald, was named the National Federation High School “South Sectional Coach of the Year” and was nominated for the National Federation High School “National Coach of the Year”. Fitzgerald has also served on the FHSAA Coaches Advisory Board and worked with the Special Olympic program in 2008, coaching a local athlete for his competition in China. Fitzgerald also served as the Olympic Coach for Paraguay at the 2008 Olympic Games. In addition to the High School State meet the Panthers have sent their swimmers to the USA Nationals and Junior Nationals, the US Open, World Cup, Grand Prix and the prestigious Mare Nostrum Tour in Europe. These student/athletes have also excelled in the classroom and gone on to swim at such outstanding schools as Air Force Academy, Davidson, Duke, Emory, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, George Washington, Harvard, John Hopkins, Kenyon, Naval Academy, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Pennsylvania, Stanford, Villanova, and Yale. Before coming to Pine Crest School, Fitzgerald was the head coach of the Santa Clara Swim Club, Cincinnati Marlins, and Houston Dads Club. He graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University and was recognized as a Distinguished Graduate of VCU in 1998. He received his masters degree from the University of Alabama, where he was assistant coach to five time USA Olympic Coach Don Gambril. Fitzgerald is married to Mary Elizabeth Murphy, who teaches at Pine Crest School, and they have three sons Ryan, Joey, and Patrick.
