Team History
1971
The South East Metro Sharks Swim Club, Inc. was founded in 1971 by Jerry and Sharon Simpson after Mr. Simpson’s first season as the district Boys Swim Team Head Coach.
1977
In 1977, the club's name was simplified to South East Metro Sharks to identify being located in the south east metro of the Twin Cities when Duane Sorenson became the head coach at this time. Duane coached SEMS for 20 years leaving an impressive record of great swimmers before taking a college coaching position to be part of Iowa State women's program.
2002
Upon Duane's departure, the Simpson's once again took the role as head coaches until the fall of 2002, when Drew Walden was hired as the new head coach. Drew had coached for 14 years in Madison, Wisconsin with great success, including coaching numerous national contenders, college scholarship award winners, state champions, and more.
2003
In spring 2003, Eric Seversen joined the SEMS coaching staff as head age group/developmental coach as well as Masters coach. He had worked side-by-side with Drew in Madison before moving to Minnesota.
2004
Changes occurred again in the fall of 2004 when Drew returned to Madison, Wisconsin. Eric Seversen was hired as the new Head Coach of SEMS.
2017
In 2017 Minnesota Swimming recognized Coach Eric Seversen for his 14 years of coaching and for his 22 years of being a member of USA Swimming.
2017 - Present
Coach Eric Seversen has been with SEMS as head coach for 15 years. He has watched the program grow and has helped shaped it into what it is today. Coach Eric works hard to see his vision for the team. He takes pride in the dedicated coaching staff he has hired. He has cheered as his swimmers have reached their goals.
Future
From its beginnings, SEMS has been a team that swimmers and families have been proud to be apart of. Currently, there are multiple families at SEMS who are second generation SEMS swimmers. At SEMS, we take pride in our history and look forward to many more years and generations of SEMS families wearing the SEMS Shark with pride!
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