Swimming & Diving

At Suffield all students who want to compete in swimming and diving are able to do so. Our goal is to help each athlete maximize his potential and build a sense of loyalty to Tiger aquatics and Suffield Academy. It is also a program that builds a sense of family and community. Workouts are tailored to the experience level of each athlete, and range from 60 minutes to two plus hours in length. Optional morning workouts and a December training trip offer additional training opportunities. Stroke technique work, including filming, and dryland training supplement the workout regimen. Boys’ and girls’ train together. The Diving team has risen to the top rung of the league, sporting deep and talented squads. With two new boards, dryland training, and ample practice time, divers have the opportunity to take their diving to the highest level.

Tiger Swimming and Diving enjoys a storied past, claiming broad schoolboy participation and support at Suffield, an impressive win-loss record, and many All American performances over a more than sixty year history. From humble beginnings in the 1930s, and managing without a pool of its own for its first thirty years, Suffield swimming gradually built a highly respected program. Over the past five years, Suffield's boys’ teams have finished in the top 12 nationally among independent schools with enrollments of 900 or fewer students, as tabulated by the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association. For several formative years, the team was under the stewardship of several Springfield College graduates, including Tom Grall and Bruce Watson, who trained under the legendary Red Silvia. Early in Watson’s tenure (1966-76), Suffield built a state of the art pool, and the program soon became one of the most competitive prep programs in Connecticut, winning several league titles under the charismatic coach. As more competition was generated by the building of new pools and inception of programs at Loomis Chaffee and Choate, Suffield was faced with the challenge of keeping up with their larger neighbors and with traditional New England powerhouses Deerfield, Andover, and Exeter. The swimming program was aided by the addition of girls’ swimming when Suffield returned to coeducation in 1974 and the addition of a USA swimming program in 1978, and water polo as a fall sport option in 1979. Coach Andy Lowe joined the faculty in 1979, taking over the new polo and well-established swimming programs. The swimming and diving team continued to grow in size, ambition, and achievement. By the early 1980s, a beefed-up dual meet schedule, individual and relay titles, and top five finishes at New England championships became de rigueur. Since that time, nearly 100 individuals have earned All America honors while competing for the Orange and Black.

Competition
Dual meets begin in early December and continue through mid-February. End of season meets typically include a trip to the prestigious prep Easterns in Philadelphia for qualified individuals, and State and New England championship meets to close out the season in early March.

Facilities
A million dollar plus makeover in 2010 brought the pool, spectator area, and adjoining locker rooms to a high standard for training and competition. Included in the makeover was a northern wall of windows, state of the art starting blocks and diving boards, a six-lane timing system matrix display, and high quality sound system.