| Published October 1st, 2008 | Coach Marc Cavallero Joins LMYA Dolphins Swim Team | By Toby Wendtland | ![](../../issue0215/images/0215-03801.jpg) | | In an effort to provide long term stability to the coaching staff of the LMYA Dolphins, Marc Cavallero has agreed to become co-head coach along with Jeff Miller. Miller, a Walnut Creek native, returned to LMYA this summer after having coached the team from 1996-1998. When he realized that he couldn't commit 100 percent to coaching in the summer of 2009, he went to Cavallero, his friend and co-coach at Acalanes High School, who also grew up swimming in Moraga.
"Rather than open the head coaching job to the general public, I felt the best possible solution would be to approach Marc and see if he would be interested in taking over the LMYA team," Miller says, "I want to help out and be involved as much as possible, but I know for both the short term and long term, bringing Marc over was a no-brainer."
For the past two years Cavallero has been the head swim coach for the Springbrook Hogs, as well as working with Miller at Acalanes High School and as an assistant with Orinda Aquatics. The decision for him to leave Springbrook was arduous. "I enjoyed my two years at Springbrook and developed strong relationships with my swimmers and their families that will continue as I see more and more of them come through Acalanes High School," Cavallero says.
Miller knew the gravity of what he was asking his friend. "He put a lot of time and effort into Springbrook the past two years, and I knew he would be faced with a difficult situation," he says.
LMYA team director Kristi Buck has been adamant in her effort to reestablish the Dolphins as one of the top swim teams in the county. The key, she says, is to establish consistency in the coaching ranks. "If you can hire a career coach, you can thrive," she says, "Kids get top quality instruction no matter what time of year they swim."
Buck has a further vested interest in seeing the LMYA team succeed; she has two daughters, Hannah, 11, and Becca, 9, who swim for the team.
Buck believes that with Cavallero on board with Miller, the two can work together to improve on this summer's success, a summer that saw them jump from division 3 to division 2.
Cavallero is also excited about the pairing. "At Acalanes, I coach the swimmers a little more on the technical details and Jeff works with the swimmers more on the training/endurance side of things," he says, "To develop a complete swimmer, you need to do both, so Jeff and I work together and complement each other extremely well."
For Cavallero, "It has been a dream come true for me to get to be a swim coach for my career, particularly in the community that I have grown up in."
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