Josh Morgan

Coach Josh, Assistant Head Coach, is in charge of the Incredible and Mini FISH.  Josh joined the FSH in September'09.  He moved here from Michigan, where he coached for many years at Club Wolverine.  

When Coach Josh Morgan is running a practice, swimmers know there's a coach in charge who is paying attention and who cares. That's not an accident. Caring about the kids, watching them grow and learn, and creating opportunities for success is what has kept Josh committed to coaching for the past 10 years. "I like being around the kids. I enjoy being able to provide them structure and an opportunity to grow," he said.

Josh grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas but moved to Michigan during high school, where he was a competitive swimmer.   As a youngster, Josh had a bone and joint disease that limited his participation in most sports.  Having grown up in and on the water in South Texas, swimming was a natural non-contact sport in which Josh was able to fully participate. Although Josh has fond memories of being a high school swimmer, he regrets not having had the opportunity to train with a year-round club program. "I wish I had been a part of a team like CW!" he said.   During college at the University of Michigan, where Josh studied English, Psychology and Geology, he returned to the sport of swimming, but as a coach.  Since then, he has helped many swimmers achieve personal and competitive goals.  

Olympian Allison Schmitt credits Josh and her other  Ann Arbor Swim Club coaches for providing her a solid base of age group training. "Josh helped me progress both mentally and physically. He stressed the importance of maintaining a positive attitude, gave me the tools to set goals, and taught the qualities to become a good leader," said Schmitt, who is a freshman swimmer at the University of Georgia.

"In the pool, his workouts could be demanding but he kept it fun. At meets, he created little games that would motivate and push us. At one meet, he challenged us to see who could swim the fastest middle 100 of the 200 free. In another meet, we played a game to see how many swimmers we could lap during the 1650. He gave me a great foundation on which to build."

Josh taught swim lessons through high school and his first years of college at UM and started coaching in the summer of 1998 at Buhr Park Pool in Ann Arbor.   In the fall of 1998, he continued his coaching career at the Ann Arbor Swim Club/Plymouth YMCA.   Josh continued to coach the Buhr Park Sharks until 2002 while also serving as the Head Coach of the South Lyon HS girls' team during the fall.    He then coached the swim program at the Ann Arbor Racquet Club for one summer before making his position at AASC full-time.    Josh served as Head Age Group Coach at AASC from 2001 to 2005, coaching kids at all levels, including the Senior National Group. Beginning in September of 2005, Josh worked as Co-Head Coach with Dan Ohm before the club merged with CW in the fall of 2006.

Since then, as the CW Age Group program has been developed, Josh's leadership and organization have been instrumental.  Josh was the interim head coach for the club's 2006/2007 season.  He successfully helped integrate and coach an expanding number of swimmers into a newly developed program.  As a result of Josh's dedication and coaching abilities, he was named Michigan's Age Group Coach Of The Year in both 2006-07 and 2007-08 by the American Swim Coaches Association.  Josh has coached more than 20 swimmers to National Top 16 rankings during his career, including numerous Michigan State Champions, Sectional and Junior National qualifiers.

As a coach on deck, Josh models a strong work ethic for his swimmers.  It's a priority for Josh to create a sense of team among his athletes. Swimmers and parents appreciate Josh's relaxed style and strong communication skills. Swimmers appreciate his clear explanations of workouts and his ability to answer questions in a way they can understand. Many swimmers still use the guidance and information he gave during his inspiring talks during the "mental training" sessions of past seasons.

Coach Josh enjoys all phases of the training process, watching athletes grow and the link between training and meeting goals.  "Knowing what goes into a truly great swim makes watching it so much more special," he said.  The hardest part of coaching for Josh is when kids lose faith or a connection to their goals.  Josh is committed to "doing whatever it takes in each season" to keep that connection between dream, motivation and drive alive.

Josh, 30,  is married to Coach Z, who he met when he started coaching at Ann Arbor Swim Club.  In his free time, he enjoys gardening, landscaping and fly fishing. He and Z have 5 cats: Logan, (a sneaky tabby cat), Lola (deaf siamese), Barnum (fat black oriental), Bella (skinny blind oriental), and Millie (swirl tabby). This summer, they recently added a dog to their crew, Melvin (an energetic ridgeback puppy). Josh enjoys eating fajitas, barbecue, "...and anything you can put guacamole or salsa on" and is a fan of strawberries and grapes.