Shenandoah Marlins Aquatic Club (SMAC) is a year round team based out of Waynesboro, VA. We offer mini marlins pre-team lessons at Augusta Health Pool in Fishersville, VA and competitive swim team to ages 5 and up at the Waynesboro YMCA. SMAC is one of the longest running competitive swim programs in Virginia. SMAC Swimming is an independent Coach managed swim team which is supported by SMAC Boosters, Inc. a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.
Our Mission
SMAC exists to develop character in swimmers through the pursuit of excellence in how we:
work, compete, and relate as a team.
- Our program is committed to:
- Recruiting highly motivated coaches and volunteers who share our vision.
- Providing proper training to our coaches, staff, and volunteers so that a safe environment for the athletes is always maintained.
- Providing swimmers with a safe abuse free environment.
- Provide swimmers with the highest quality coaching possible.
- Recognize each individual (swimmer, coach, parent, volunteer, official) and the role they play in the success of our organization and athletes.
- Teach ideals, life skills, and values useful outside of the pool in everyday life.
- Encourage and provide the safest and best environment for swimmers to strive for their own ultimate excellence.
Core Values
- We are processed based, and performance driven, not the other way around.
- Short term goals and achievement are important, but the long-term development of the person and the athlete always come first.
- A Commitment to Excellence - Individual and Team excellence is important. We encourage the setting of extremely ambitious goals (short term and long term).
- Hard Work –With the setting of ambitious goals must come a knowledge of the work needed to reach those levels.
- Time Management - With increased practice attendance comes the need to properly budget time daily, weekly, and monthly.
- Educationally Based and Ethical Program.
- Everlasting – We aim to keep the program around long after the youngest swimmer on this team graduates from high school.
The Team and The Program - No individual will ever be put ahead of the best interest of the program or the team as a whole.
HONOR YOUR TEAM WITH YOUR ATTITUDE AND EFFORT
Our History
SMAC has been serving the Waynesboro community since 1958. SMAC was a YMCA managed swim team until the pandemic in 2019. Since 2019 SMAC has been a Coach operated team serving the Waynesboro and Crozet communities. SMAC has achieved success at the highest level of swimming. SMAC has been a Silver Medal USA Swimming recognized Team. SMAC has had Junior National, Senior National and Olympic Trial qualifiers throughout our history. SMAC has had numerous swimmers go on to swim in College and become Collegiate All Americans. Many SMAC swimmers who swam in College became Captains of their Collegiate Teams.
Coaching Staff
Adam swam year-round and collegiate spanning over a decade. He was a Louisiana State champion multiple times through high school, also qualifying for Junior Nationals at 18 in the 200 free. He swam in college at Ouachita Baptist University, in Arkansas, where he earned a BA in Psychology. He has spent time on the mission field in Taiwan, China, and India. He later became a pastoral intern where he spent much of his time with the youth, helping to challenge and encourage them in their growth as people. In 2015 he moved to Los Angeles where he attended seminary and in 2018 received his Master of Divinity. He and his family moved to Waynesboro that same year where he has worked at Cellular Sales, the Verizon store, and possibly helped many of you with your cellular needs.
Adam’s strengths and authenticity are seen in his love for people and communication. He loves to help people grow and change, and so he has developed his natural skills in: leadership, encouragement, challenging others, making sure everyone is seen and heard, and helping others, especially youth, better understand themselves so that they may flourish. He is thrilled to be a part of SMAC, to instill his knowledge and determination to help your kids excel as athletes and thereby as people.
Coach Brad's attachment to water began at an early age, swimming AAU in Upstate New York for the Saratoga Tigers. He moved to Massachusetts and then New Jersey, where he continued with competitive swimming through High School.
After graduating from Kenyon College, Brad began his teaching and coaching vareer in New Mexico at St. Francis Cathedral School. He also taught and coached in Michigan at Cranbrook-Kingswood, and also coached at the Birmingham Athletic Club. Brad moved to Virginia to continue his teaching and coaching career, and began coaching with Winchester Swim Team in 2005. He later joined Valley Swim Team Phoenix in Strasburg, Va as an Age-Group coach, eventually moving up to be Head Coach until 2009. He gave up the Head Coaching position at VSTP to focus on teaching and being Head Coach at Wakefield Country High School. The call of the water was too strong, and Brad rejoined VSTP as Head Coach for the '14-'15 season. That year he had swimmers qualify for Age-Group Champs, Senior Champs, Eastern Zones and Sectionals. He moved to Michigan to be closer to family and became Head of for the Allegan Tigershark Aquatic Club. The pull to build competitive swimming in southwestern Michigan was a major reason for taking the position at ATAC. The position led to an opportunity to work with the Portage Aquatic Club, which became the Greater Kalamazoo Crocs. Brad worked primarily with the Age Group program and coached several swimmers to top 8 finishes at Age Group Champs.
