By Tamas Mondovics
With the departure of former Head Coach, Justin Corera, who has recently said goodbye to his post and moved his family to Orlando, the Brandon Sports and Aquatic Center proudly announced Riverview resident, Ron Turner, as the new Head Coach of its world-renowned Blue Wave Swim Team.
Turner is a USA Swimming National Team coach who comes to us from Atlanta, Georgia where he was the Lead coach of Stingrays Swimming.
“We are more than excited to get someone of Ron’s stature in USA Swimming here at BSAC,” said Executive Director, Chuck Burgess. Adding that as the new head coach, Turner is a perfect addition to the leadership team and is committed to taking the Blue Wave program to even greater heights.
Previously, Turner was the head coach of the Jiangsu Swim Team in Nanjing, China where he coached numerous Chinese National Team members.
Today he brings 27 years of coaching experience to the center, having coached at numerous collegiate programs and nationally ranked club teams, including Indiana University (Bloomington), the YMCA of the Triangle Area Swim Team (Raleigh, NC) and Irvine Novaquatics (Irvine, CA).
Turner was named the 2006 National YMCA Coach of the Year, and the North Carolina Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2006. He has coached a number of swimmers at the international level at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia and the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, China.
Adding to his international status, Turner was an assistant coach for the USA Women’s Team in the 2007 Pan American Games as well as a coach for the 2007 Indonesian World Championship Team.
“His international experience, coupled with his ability to impact swimmers of all ages, will surely open doors of opportunity for young athletes that have goals to compete collegiately and on the bigger national and international stage,” Burgess said.
Turner, a graduate of the University of Tennessee and who currently resides in Riverview, spoke highly of his new post when he said, “It is an honor to be a part of such a storied program in the Brandon Blue Wave,” adding that he is surrounded by a team of excited and passionate people all connected with the program, which in turn, will help elevate the Blue Wave team to both national and international success.
“I am looking forward to the journey of impacting people’s lives as well as fast swimming,” he said.
For more information about BSAC and the Blue Wave Swim Team please visit www.mybsac.org.
