MALDEN — Barry Fitzpatrick invested more than 30 years teaching, mentoring and inspiring thousands of students and coaches at Malden High School over parts of four decades.
Last week Fitzpatrick “came home” once again, this time to be immortalized.
The newly renovated school competition pool was named for the former longtime Malden High athletic director and swim coach at a dedication ceremony attended by family, friends, former Malden High swimmers he coached in the past — and the 2017 version of the Golden Tornado swim team.
Fitzpatrick wore many hats while serving at the school from the early 1970s through the early 2000s. He was a physical education teacher and head girls’ basketball coach in his early years, then became the most well-known swim coach in Golden Tornado history, and served as athletic director for nearly 15 years from the early 1990s through 2005.
As a testament to his legacy, the present Malden High head swim coach, Paul DeVincentis Jr. was one of Fitzpatrick’s star performers.
“I am so humbled by this great honor, but it is something that to be shared with all the great people and great student-athletes that crossed paths in this pool and the school over the years I was a part of all this,” Fitzpatrick said. “It was some of the best times of my life that I spent right here.”
Even while athletic director, Fitzpatrick always maintained his office just outside the pool. It was always known as the place where you could find him. As athletic director, he oversaw many star-studded teams in players of the 1980s, many of whom went on to collegiate and even professional careers, including 1995 graduate Kevin McGlinchy, who led Malden to a Greater Boston League high school baseball title in 1995 and just four years later was pitching in the World Series against the Yankees as a member of the Atlanta Braves.
DeVincentis introduced his former coach, crediting Fitzpatrick as his role model and a major influence in personal career path. “Coach Fitzpatrick is why I wanted to be a teacher and a coach. He set very high standards for all of us and it helped me decide what I wanted to do with my life,” DeVincentis said. “For that I will always be grateful.
“(Fitzpatrick) is so deserving of this honor, and my team and coaching staff are honored to be part of this.”
Fitzpatrick was presented a copy of the plaque which will be mounted at the pool by members of this year’s 2017-18 Malden High swim team, captains Pete Jinapin, Dylan Ha, and Olivia Forestier at a break in their meet against archrival Medford High.
For good measure, the Golden Tornadoes defeated their rival Mustangs by a wide margin, “just like they drew it up” on a day when they honored their former coach.
