SPORTSENGINE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Associate Head Coach, Age Group Swimming
Caitlin Grant, the Associate Head Coach for Age Group Swimming and the Development of Female Athletes, has 13 years of competitive swimming experience to her credit, have swam for both Seacoast Swimming Association and Seekonk High School before going on to compete for Colgate University from 2004 to 2008. As a high school swimmer she broke numerous Seekonk High School records, won both individual and team South Sectional titles, and was a Boston Globe All-Scholastic selection during her senior year after finishing at the top of the state in both of her events during her four high school campaigns. A repeat scorer at the New England Age Group and Senior meets, she competed in several USA Swimming Sectional meets and also raced at Senior Nationals in the summer of 2005.
During her time as a varsity swimmer at Colgate, she was a finalist at the Patriot League Championships and recorded program top-ten marks in the 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly, and 200 butterfly. During her senior year she helped lead the Raiders to their first Patriot League Championship team title. Caitlin was the 2008 co-recipient of the Maroon & White Award, given to the swimmer who puts the team's needs and goals ahead of her own, and was also a member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll.
Caitlin graduated from Colgate in 2008 with a degree in English and educational studies, and went on to receive her masters degree in teaching from Brown in 2010. She also studied sports psychology at the graduate level, and has trained as both a yoga and Pilates instructor. She worked as an English teacher and an athletic communications professional, before spending five years at Lincoln School in Providence, working in both the Advancement Office and the Communications Office.
Caitlin has coached for Gator Swim Club - Seekonk for over 12 years, and her primary focus is on developing the team's 12 and under swimmers. She is passionate about teaching children to love and excel in swimming, and she has developed multiple Age Group qualifiers, Age Group champions, and Age Group high point scorers, and well as Eastern Zone qualifiers and finalists.
For over twenty years, head coach Ray Grant has played an integral role in many facets of the USA and New England swimming communities.
After learning to swim at the pool in Sacramento, California where Mark Spitz was just beginning his legendary swimming career, Coach Grant moved to Seekonk, Massachusetts and flourished as a member of the Seekonk Dolphins and the Seekonk High School Warriors, both under the tutelage of Ellis Mayers. He moved on to obtain his college degree in nursing, working at hospitals in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, including several years in the well-respected ER of Boston Children's Hospital, before moving on to become an airline pilot.
Eventually, his desire to return to the sport that he loved brought him back to Seekonk, where he began his coaching career in 1993 as an assistant to Ellis Mayers, who was still at the helm of the Seekonk Dolphins. In 1998, he assumed the role of head coach and has since guided the team as it evolved into Seekonk Swimming, Seacoast Swimming Association (Seekonk), and then to Gator Swim Club - Seekonk, one of NE Swimming's oldest and most renowned programs. Over the years he has coached swimmers to success at all levels of the sport, including Zones, Sectionals, Junior Nationals and Senior Nationals. Over sixty of his swimmers have gone on to swim competitively at the collegiate level. Additionally, Coach Grant has become actively involved in the New England Swimming community at the administrative level, serving as a member of the Board of Directors since 1998. He acted as General Chair from 2004 to 2008, and earned enormous respect in this position as he was re-elected in May 2012 for another term. Currently, he is the Vice Chair for Program Operations, chair of the Admin Review Board, and a member of the Senior Committee.
When Coach Grant took over as head club coach in 1998, he also assumed the role of head coach of the Seekonk High School Warriors swim team, guiding the girls' team for five years and the boys' team for seven. He led the Lady Warriors to a record of 61-3-1, in addition to numerous Southern Conference titles and South Sectional Championships. His swimmers broke a plethora of school records, and often dominated the all-star teams of the local papers. His success did not go unnoticed, as Coach Grant was named Boston Globe Coach of the Year in 2002, and the Eastern Massachusetts Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2005. He served as chairman of the MIAA state swim committee from 2007-2014.
Coach Grant has developed a coaching pedagogy that places a strong emphasis on sound technique, ample endurance training, and practice sets that mimic the racing environment. He takes pride in creating a team-based atmosphere, encouraging all of his swimmers to work together, pushing each other to great performances in practice on a daily basis and providing a supportive training community. Additionally, he recognizes that each of his swimmers is an individual who needs unique focus and attention, a belief that sets Gator Swim Club - Seekonk and its coaching staff apart from other teams in New England.