Background[]
- Swimming coach hired at Middlebury College in 2008
Insights[]
Weinberg Named Assistant at Middlebury College[]
MIDDLEBURY, VT , June 17th, 2008
Andy Weinberg has been named the Assistant Swimming Coach/Assistant Aquatics Director at Middlebury College. Panther head coach Peter Solomon is extremely excited to have Weinberg’s competitive experience as an athlete, swim coach and race director coming to assist with the college’s varsity swimming team and facility operations. “Of all the highly qualified candidates who applied for the position, I was thrilled to see Andy’s credentials and learn of his sincere interest to come to Middlebury and be a part of our program and community. His enthusiasm for competitive swimming and for helping to motivate student- athletes was evident as soon as I started talking to him to about the position,” said Solomon. Middlebury College’s Athletic Director Erin Quinn feels strongly that “Andy will bring a lot of energy to his new role to help coach and recruit Middlebury swimmers, as well as assist in the daily operations of the swimming program and natatorium.”
Weinberg was the Head Swimming Coach and a Physical Education Teacher for the past 12 years at Pekin Community High School in Pekin, Illinois. He helped turn around a relatively unknown program of 15 female and seven male athletes to a successful, well-respected program of 50 to 60 male and 50 to 60 female swimmers who have turned the high-school swim team into a beacon program in the community. While at Pekin Community High School, he was selected to be the Illinois Sectional Coach-of-the-Year six of his 12 years. His teams won a total of 11 Conference and Sectional Championships in central Illinois, while he boasted 12 Illinois State Finalists and five High-School All-Americans. His girls’ teams posted a 94-33 dual-meet record, while his boys’ programs went 90-24. Prior to his time at Pekin Community High School, Weinberg taught Physical Education and was the Assistant Swim Coach for his former high school coach, Corky King, at Richwoods High School for two years. In that time, he had the opportunity to coach many of the team’s senior and junior-national level swimmers, as well as a few of the Olympic Trial qualifiers, who later went on to have successful NCAA Division I careers.
As a former Richwoods High School swimmer, Weinberg was a distance freestyle specialist who qualified for Junior Nationals and was an Illinois State Championship runner-up in the 500 Freestyle (4:37). In addition to doing well in his individual events, he takes the most pride in his part on the Richwoods All-American 400 Free Relay and his team’s third-place finish in the Illinois State Championship. With his club program in Richwoods, Weinberg went on to win the Illinois State Long Course and Short Course Championships in the 1500 & 1650 Freestyle events.
After high school, he earned a B.S. degree from Southwest Missouri State University, and an M.A. degree from St. Xavier University. As a member of the Southwest Missouri State University swim team, he graduated with varsity records in the 500 free (4:33), 1,000 free (9:30), and 1,650 free (15:50).
After graduating from college, Weinberg turned his focus and training to longer endurance and adventure races, both as a competitor and as a race director. Some of his accomplishments in recent years include participating in and completing 11 marathons and 38 ultra marathons, including the Vermont 100 Miler, the Corn Belt 24-hour race in Iowa, the Arkansas 100-Miler, and the Kettle Moraine 100-Mile Race three times in Wisconsin. He is also an avid cyclist and triathlete, who competed in the 2005 and 2006 Virginia Double Ironman Triathlon. As a Race Director, he has been involved in putting on a variety of events from local 5K running races and triathlons in Pekin, Illinois, to the Peak Adventure races here in Pittsfield, Vermont (Pittsfield Peak Snow-Shoe Marathon, 666 Mountain-Bike Race, Ultra Challenge 50-Miler, and the Death Division Race).