Congratulations Coach Teal!

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Tarboro native and lifelong Wolfpacker, Brooks Teal has been selected as one of six national finalists for the American Swimming Coaches National Coach of hte Year. (Link to GoPack announcement).

Teal was instrumental in the development and training of arguably the top sprinter in the world, Cullen Jones. Jones swam for four seasons at NC State for Teal, winning seven ACC Championship titles and capturing the 2006 NCAA title in the 50-yard freestyle.

The award is voted on by the ASCA Board of Directors and the presentation of the finalists and the announcement of the winning coach will be made at the ASCA Awards Banquet on Friday, September 8.

On a personal basis, Coach Teal’s success is especially exciting for me as I grew up going to the same church as Brooks’ (and his family) and swam for him until I was a teenager. Congratulations Coach Teal!!

General Non-Revenue

3 Responses to Congratulations Coach Teal!

  1. Wolf-n-Atl 09/01/2006 at 4:15 PM #

    Great to see Teal getting some recognition. If we can get our pool up to the standards of some of the other programs in the ACC he can start to challenge for the top of the conference.

  2. vtpackfan 09/02/2006 at 8:04 PM #

    The recognition speaks volumes, and the ball is in Oblinger and Fowlers court. Teal gets the best out of what he has and it would be something for resources at State to be put into a direction that is already established instead of throwing money at sports and wondering about who should direct it later.

  3. vtpackfan 09/03/2006 at 1:08 PM #

    That was a jumbled mess of a statement and a disservice to coach Teal (if anyone actually cared about the sport). I am really appreciative of the administers keeping these updates on swimming. It would be interesting if anyone could find out if Cullen still trains w/Teal as he looks to improve internationally in 50 and 100 free.
    I am an example of a living, breathing red blooded American sports fan who gave squat consideration to swimming as anything other than a recreational activity. I met my wife and slowly gained an appreciation for it as a serious sport. One that blends raw, god given talent with hard work and tireless training. One that sets the highest standard and then works to see a dream come true. Its the same as every other high profile sport in the world. The difference, IMO, is that the sports that get the most attention (football, baseball, basketball) are the one we know we could never participate fully. Like in ancient Rome, we enjoy watching a Gladiator in the ring fighting a beast because it is exillirating and safe knowing that we would never be put in that position. A swimmer in a lane on a Monday morning at the local Y can feel very similar to the swimmer in lane 4 in the next Olympics in terms of the physical environment. This is one reason that swimming is shrugged off in this country; its safe therefore it must be boring.
    We don’t have to pack the rafters of a new aquatics center at State to justify building one. We shouldn’t immediatetly expect ACC titles and multiple swimmers competing at the NCAA’s if we had better facilities. No one cared before, so they shouldn’t get to worked up after. Its just the right thing to do, at precisely the right time. What makes this country so special is that we have so much to offer in choices for young athletes. It gives kids a chance to grow stronger in the mind as well as the body getting to do the thing they love. Lets reward coach Teal and his swimmers, present and future, with the recognition that they succeeded equally well as their peers in more prestigous sports. Lets do it State!

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