New season brings new coaches to Willows Swim Club
By george albano
Staff Writer

FARRAH MAFFAI Amy Wolfe is just one of several talented swimmers who returns to the Willows Swim Club team that looks to continue the success it has enjoyed in recent seasons.

The beginning of the 2003 summer swim season also marks the end of an era for the Willows Swim Club.

John Kohutanycz, who’s been coaching swimming for the last 24 summers, including the last six with Willows Swim Club, has decided to step down.

"I’ve been coaching for 24 years in the summer league," the coach, who is known as J.K. to his swimmers, said. "I started with the Willows in 1979, and ever since then, I coached three other teams.

"But I started with the Willows and I’m finishing with the Willows, so I have very mixed emotions," he added.

While the 43-year-old Kohutanycz is sad to be leaving something he truly loves, he said he is looking forward to watching his own two kids, Jared, 13, and Carly, 10, swim for The Wave.

"I’m just going to be a parent at the swim meets now," he said. "But another reason is, I just took a different job which is full-time, all year, and I had to give up the swimming."

He became the athletic director of St. Joseph High School in Metuchen this past year.

Kohutanycz leaves behind a successful trail which saw The Wave go undefeated and win the New Jersey Swimming and Diving Conference C league championship in 2000, and finish runner-up the last two summers.

"We’ve always had a very competitive team," Kohutanycz said. "Over the course of the last six years we’ve broken a lot of records, too — almost every year in individual events and relays."

But Kohutanycz said having talented swimmers is only part of the reason for the team’s success.

"We also had great parental support," he said. "It has been awesome."

He has also had some good assistant coaches, including two of his former swimmers, Erin Kelly and Kelly McWilliams, who will now take over as co-head coaches of the team. Both bring solid swimming backgrounds to the program. Kelly, 21, swam scholastically at South Brunswick High School and served as an assistant coach under Kohutanycz for the last five summers.

McWilliams, also 21, joined the staff as an assistant coach last summer and is currently on the women’s swim team at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, after having a standout career at Rutgers Prep School.

"I’m excited," McWilliams said about taking over as co-head coach. "It’s different. There’s a lot more paperwork to take care of, a lot more planning and more responsibility.

"But we’ve both been involved with The Wave for a long time, from being kids on the team to coaching," she said.

They take over a program involving 110 kids at all different age levels.

"I like working with the 8-and-under kids while Erin likes working with the older kids," McWilliams said.

The Wave has moved up to the more-competitive B level this summer and lost its season-opening meet to Nob Valley last Saturday by just six points.

"It was real close and we hope to beat them the next time we swim against them this season," McWilliams said. "I think we’ll do very well this year."

"I think they have a number of swim­mers who can compete on that level," Kohutanycz said. "I look for them to have another good dual-meet season."

Kohutanycz certainly didn’t leave the cupboard bare. The Wave returns several top swimmers, including breaststroker Amy Wolfe in the girls’ 15-18 age group, Abby Weingarten and Liz Samtur in the 11-12 division, and Jessica Charinga in the 9-10-year-old level.

On the boys’ side, Ryan Jannos should be one of the top breaststrokers and 200 IM swimmers in the 15-18-year-old division, while Brad LeHan has looked good early on among the 8-and-under swimmers.

"He’s new to the team," McWilliams said, "but so far he’s shown us some good stuff."

And it should be reassuring to both McWilliams and Kelly to know their for­mer coach won’t be too far away if they need some advice.

"I’ll still be around on a limited basis," Kohutanycz said. "I’ll help out wherever I can."

"He’s made the transition process real easy," McWilliams said. "He’s helped us with things like scheduling meets. He tells us he’ll be our utility man if we ever need him to do something.

"The parental support has been great, too," she added. "People are always volun­teering, helping out as timers and signing up kids. They’re always asking us if we need anything. They’ve been great."

And now there’s one more parent around to help.

"I’ll just be one of the many parents now offering tremendous support to the team," Kohutanycz said.

Among the top finishers in Saturday’s meet with Nob Valley were Jamie Weingarten, first in the 8-and-under girls’ 25 fly, and 25 free; Josh Harmon, first in the 8U boys’ 25 breast; Emily Charniga, Weingarten, Emily Rothstein and Alexa Caputo, first in the girls’ 8U 100 medley relay; Gessica Charniga, first in the 9/10-year-old girls’ 50 fly and first in the girls’ 10U 10 IM; Chris Hockman, first in the boys’ 11/12 100 free and first in the boys’ 50 back; Samtur, first in the girls’ 11/12 50 fly; Abby Weingarten, first in the girls’ 11/12 50 free; Bryan Dau, first in the boys’ 13/14 100 back; Gessica Charniga, Julianne Peterson, Samtur and Carly Kohutanycz, first in the girls’ 9/10 and 11/12 medley relay; and Brandon Lee, Dau, Jim Gaylord and Ryan Jannos, first in the 13/14 and 15/18 boys’ 200 free relay.