Cherry Hill resident Chris Brookover has been around competitive swimming for more than 30 years, but he has never been as excited as he’s been in the past month.
The YMCA of Burlington and Camden Counties in Mt. Laurel recently hired Brookover to take over as competitive swim director and head coach for its swimming team. Brookover will lead the swim team at all age levels from 6 to 18 years old.
The opportunity was too good for Brookover to pass up. While he has coached individual teams at various levels in the past, this is the first time he’s been in charge of an entire organization.
“It is a very unique and outstanding opportunity to kind of build a team here,” Brookover said. “I absolutely relish it. I always wanted to see what I could do as far as being a head coach of the team.”
Brookover has been a swimming coach since college, having been hired as an assistant coach at the University of Wyoming, where he competed in the early 1980s. After coaching as a fifth-year assistant there in 1985, Brookover moved on to Colorado State to coach the women’s team.
Brookover said coaching was something he enjoyed from the very beginning.
“I felt really comfortable coaching,” he said. “It seemed very natural to me. To help other athletes trying to achieve their goals meant a lot.”
Brookover moved to South Jersey in 1992 and began coaching at the Jersey Wahoos Swim Club in Mt. Laurel shortly after. For more than two decades, Brookover coached kids of various ages and skill levels. Some of the specific areas he focused on included proper stroke mechanics, dryland training and meet preparation.
Tim Kerrihard, president and CEO of the YMCA of Burlington and Camden Counties, said Brookover’s extensive experience made him perfect for the YMCA job.
“(Chris’) extensive background in competitive swimming will help us take our competitive swim program to the next level,” Kerrihard said.
Brookover not only taught dozens of area children to be better competitive swimmers, but has also seen his own children make a name for themselves in swimming. His daughter Jaimie Lynn was a standout swimmer for Cherry Hill East and just completed her sophomore season with the University of Connecticut. His son Duncan is finishing up his junior year at Cherry Hill East and helped the Cougars to a state championship in 2015. His youngest son Jackson also swims at the club level and won the 50-meter backstroke at Cherry Bowl 2014 for the 11- and 12-year-old division.
“It’s really been a big part of our lives,” Brookover said. “It’s turned out that way. Never would have dreamed it 20 years ago.”
Brookover is preparing to make his mark on the YMCA’s swim team in the coming weeks. Tryouts were scheduled to begin on Monday, June 8 and continue through the end of the month. The YMCA’s season runs from Labor Day through Memorial Day and includes meets against other New Jersey and Pennsylvania YMCAs as well as other top swim clubs from across the state. The team will also compete in the YMCA nationals in North Carolina.
“The support and the organization of the YMCA toward competitive swimming is unparalleled,” Brookover said. “They really help you to build a team and compete.”
Brookover is expecting his team at all age levels to be a mix of returning and new swimmers to the program. He is most looking forward to tryouts and working with a new group of swimmers.
“It’s going to be great to see a lot of people and take a look at what we had,” he said.
