CULTIVATING CHAMPIONS IN AND OUT OF THE POOL

MARY SCHOCH

• Assistant Boys’ and Girls’ Swim Coach

• Pre-Swim Team Coach

As a competitive swimmer since age 10 and through college, Mary Schoch has always gravitated to jobs that kept her around the water—which meant lifeguarding, teaching swim lessons, and eventually coaching. For the past eight years, she has served as assistant coach for Country Day’s swim program. “I love the kids, I Iove getting to experience their growing passion for the water and for the sport. And I love that I get to have an influence on their development as athletes and as good people,” says Mary.

This past year, she added Pre-Swim team coach, a program that helps introduce the fundamentals to Country Day students ages six to 11, who may want to swim competitively in Middle and Upper School.

As a longtime coach with the program, Mary was part of the foundation and traditions built by previous coach Bob Peterson. Ben Keast, who has deep international experience coaching swimmers, just completed his first year at Country Day and was able to lean on Mary for her institutional knowledge and strong relationships with students and parents. “I appreciate how Ben took over with grace and humility, yet also challenged us to do something new,” Mary shares.

“There are good things happening in the pool, and I’m excited for the future.”

In February, for the first time since 2011, our undefeated Girls’ Swim team won the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Associations (NCISAA) State Championship and the boys’ team finished third. The Bucs broke 10 state records, along with 35 team records this season, 22 of them at the state meet.

“That was a proud swim coach, swim mom moment,” says Mary. “I know I played a part in getting them there, but those girls are working really hard to be the best they can be. I am really happy for them.”

Mary says she is a very relational, experiential coach, who wants to get to know her athletes and build a foundation of trust. “For high schoolers, there is a lot of life happening, and I enjoy helping them get through some of those challenges. I want them to walk away from the practice, from the meet, from the season having had fun, but also feeling challenged and learning something new,” she says.

“I want them to walk away from the practice, from the meet, from the season having had fun, but also feeling challenged and learning something new.”

“As a coach, it can be a challenge to know what’s best. Every year is a new group, a new dynamic. But ultimately, it comes down to making sure the team can say they did their best in the water, they have a good attitude, they have team spirit. We want our swimmers to be good people in and out of the water.”

The Klein Aquatic Center is another huge benefit for our student-athletes. “This is a nicer facility than many collegelevel venues,” says Mary. “And that has opened a lot of doors for the team. This is their space, their home, and they thrive on that comfort. Plus, we are now able to add a strength and conditioning component on dry land this year and that has been huge.”

“There is an energy at Country Day. A spirit of competition, community, and character. The students and athletes are driven. It’s a motivator for me to be better, too,” says Mary. “We are all striving for greatness.”