Bulldogs change lanes with Pretre
By Brett McMillan
Publication: Truman State Index
Date Published: Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Type: Sports News
Truman has hired Ed Pretre as the new head swimming coach. Former swimming head coach Mark Gole resigned in December leaving the program without a head coach for the past four months. Interim head coach Jennifer Godlweski was removed this week.
“I think any swim coach or anyone that is serious about swimming knows about Truman and its history,” Pretre said. “And when this job opened up I talked to a lot of my coaching buddies and they said, ‘You know, you need to put your hat in the ring for this.’ The tradition and the history of what Seth Huston, especially, started here in the late 90s—it’s very, very well-known. Its an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
Pretre has been an assistant couch at Princeton University [N.J.], Rutgers University [N.J.] and at East Carolina University [N.C.].
Truman will be his first job as head coach at the collegiate level.
Athletic Director Jerry Wollmering said Pretre was the most qualified candidate of the four who were given the opportunity to visit campus.
“I think Ed, on his campus visit, really gelled well with the campus community,” Wollmering said. “I think he brings a great background to the program of preparing himself to be a head coach.”
Pretre is inheriting a program that sent All-American swimmers senior Anna Grinter and sophomore Jerod Simek to the national meet last month.
The men placed fourth at the New South Intercollegiate Swimming Conference tournament last season while the women placed first. Truman’s women’s swimming team has won the conference title for the last seven seasons.
“We all have our individual best races,” Grinter said. “Some of us are sprinters, some of us are distance or mid-distance. So, he’ll have to individualize people’s training programs in order for them to swim to their individual ability. He has a lot of experience doing that, which is really important to us. Just kind of having confidence in himself and giving this team a new, fresh start.”
The swimmers had the chance to sit down with Pretre and voice questions, comments and concerns during Pretre’s visit to Kirksville before he was hired.
It could be a time of adjustment for the swimmers during the first part of the season. Gole coached at Truman for six years and had created his own culture within the swim program, Wollmering said.
“I think there is always a shift when you have a head coaching change,” Wollmering said. “There obviously could be some similarities, but I think there is always a paradigm shift. I’m not sure what areas that could be in but I’m sure it will be an adjustment period for our swimmers. I’m not saying that is a bad thing.”
Pretre said he intends to implement quality training. He said understanding his athletes’ needs is the criteria he will use in making a program that will fit them.
Wollmering said, Pretre has the potential to change recruiting. Due to his previous coaching positions, his recruiting grounds are not as regionalized as those of coaches in other Truman programs.
“The in-state kids are the most important thing,” Pretre said. “That’s Truman’s home base. From there, I think we kind of have to build outside of that. We’ll hit the areas of Iowa, Nebraska, we’ll hit your basic Midwest areas. Then from that point on I think of getting the right student to Truman, whether it is from the west coast or down south.”