Opportunity knocks plenty for swim coach

If you have you have ever woken up before either of Saipan’s two sunrises on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday and felt the urge to make the journey to the Kan Pacific pool in Marpi, then you probably have met the coach of the Saipan Swim Club, Michael Stewart.

If you get there before he does, you might catch the faintest whisper of Jimmy Buffet in the air as he pulls up in his well-traveled red pickup truck. It’s a short walk to the water from there, and that’s where the coach clocks in.

With his large yellow cup of coffee from Winchell’s, Stewart walks the shores of the concrete beach to eye the progress of the newest crop of Saipan’s swim team beneath the brim of his Tampa Bay Buccaneers visor.

Between the critiques and witty comments, the coach guides his swimmers along the road to their potential fulfillment, but were it not for his high school friend, Stewart might have never of made it to Saipan.

Stewart was born and raised on a lake in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where swimming was a part of life. While he liked to be in the water, Stewart never took swimming seriously as a young southeastern boy.

Stewart didn’t get into competitive swimming until his sophomore year in high school when his friend Mike Hammond suggested that they attend the meeting for the school water polo team. The future swim coach had planned on joining the golf team, but quickly changed his mind when the 10th grader saw “so many good looking ladies” in the group.

Stewart later joined the swim team when one of those ladies offered him a ride to practice everyday, but it didn’t take a pretty face to get him into his current profession.

While swimming for Marshall University, Stewart enrolled in the “five-year” program, and received an offer from his coach, Dr. Robert Saunders, to become the assistant coach of the team in exchange for free tuition in his final year. It was an offer that Stewart was all too happy to accept, and the duo coached the Huntington, West Virginia team.

While there, opportunity came knocking in the form of an international swimming clinic in Brazil. The group of instructors spent two months training the finer points of swimming to the youth of Brazil two weeks at a time, and it was there that Stewart fell in love with the idea of coaching.

“They were so excited about learning something new in the field of competitive swimming, and that’s when I knew that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

When Stewart returned to the campus and finished out the remainder of the year, he was ready to face his fate in the real world as “some kind of businessman” until opportunity came knocking again—this time in the form of a phone call.

“I was in Dr. Saunders office when he received a phone call from someone asking him if he knew anyone who would be a good fit to be the local YMCA swim coach, and I walked on the next week.”

Stewart’s road to success continued through to the YMCA Cincinnati, where his team won back-to-back National Championships in 1984 and 1985. After winning the titles, a club in Largo, FL reached out to Stewart, and he returned home to the southeast.

After continuing to make a name for himself with his success in his home state, the University of Kentucky offered him another opportunity to coach in the college ranks. Stewart made the move northward, and added coaching a future Olympian to his resume, but after six years of coaching the Wildcats, an opportunity in Florida came knocking again—and he answered.

This time, Stewart was coaching in a plush facility in Sarasota that included his third floor office that overlooked his pool. Everything was top of the line with the Sarasota YMCA, and a coach couldn’t ask for more.

Stewart had certainly come a long way from his days in Brazil, but that’s what was troubling him.

“I really became disillusioned when I was in Sarasota because I was more of an administrator and a fundraiser than a swim coach.”

Then one night after a “bad week,” Stewart took a look at the American Swim Coaches Job Line.

“I wasn’t enjoying coaching anymore. I was thinking, ‘Let’s just look to see if something’s out there,’ and I found Saipan. I didn’t do anything about it right away, but a couple of days later I went back to the Saipan page because there must have been a reason why I found that particular ad.”

This time it was Stewart’s time to go out and do the knocking, and after contacting then SSC coach and local sports hero, Bill Sakovich, Stewart got in touch with his rival from college—Bill’s son John—to ask about the CNMI. A favorable review and a job offer later had Stewart packing his bags and flying out to Saipan.

“It’s great! In Saipan I’m getting back to the grass roots—like Brazil. Now I enjoy coaching more than I had for the last 10-15 years. Saipan just gave me back the joy of coaching.”

Since arriving on island, Stewart has worked with his team in Tokyo, Fiji, Guam, and the World Championships in Indiana, as well as a number of virtual meets. The club is involved in a meet or an event at least every other week, and the coach is now making arrangements for the Arafura Games in Australia this May. Adding to his list of credits, the club has doubled in size since his arrival with the implementation of a developmental program aimed at making it easier for kids to get involved.

“I know how intimidating it can be for a 10-year-old who has never swum before, so I started a real low-key program geared toward competitive swimming last June or July.”

The SSC now boasts between 85-95 swimmers, and if Stewart is correct, it will continue to build upon itself.

While local swimmers have Stewart to thank for many of the recent success, there’s also a long distance pat on the back due for Mike Hammond.