DANVERS—When the St. John’s swimming and diving team suits up for its first practice of the 2019-20 season, someone other than Tony Padvaiskas will blow the head coach’s whistle for the first time in 22 years.
The Prep athletics department has announced that 2008 graduate Jeff Fiore will step into the role and Padvaiskas’ considerable shadow later this year.
“I’m so proud to have Jeff take over the competitive aquatics programs at the Prep,” said Padvaiskas, who retired this summer after serving at the Eagles’ swimming and diving helm since 1998. “He is a kind and meticulous coach who will create an incredible team atmosphere in which the boys can flourish. The program has been so lucky to have alumni that want to give back and support it, and Jeff is a shining example among them.”
Fiore has seen plenty of Padvaiskas’s success up close, first as a four-year standout for the Eagles, then as his assistant coach this past season for both fall water polo and winter swimming. Padvaiskas led St. John’s to 14 Division 1 state titles, 12 North sectional crowns, and 17 Catholic Conference championships en route to compiling a 110-8 dual meet record. He was inducted into the Eastern Massachusetts Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame this spring, one of just 73 inductees since the EMISCA began bestowing the honor in 1981.
“I’m very excited and fortunate to end up in a head coaching role here,” said Fiore, who swam competitively at the University of Tampa and will also take the reins of the Prep water polo program beginning August 26. “Tony and the St. John’s swimming program had a gigantic impact on my youth and young adulthood. They paved the way for my college career, shaped the type of coach I am, and represent a huge positive influence in my life. I’m so lucky to have had such a great experience competing in these two sports at the Prep, and I have a strong personal connection to them. I’m confident I can keep the tradition going.”
St. John’s athletic director Jameson Pelkey seconds that emotion.
“I’m excited to have Jeff take over as the head of two programs, our water polo and swimming/diving teams,” said Pelkey. “As an alumnus, Jeff has a special passion for the Prep and for doing whatever is in the best interest of our student-athletes and the school. He’s definitely got big shoes to fill, stepping into these head coaching positions following Tony’s retirement, but I have no doubt Jeff will make the entire Prep community extremely proud.”
A Malden resident, Fiore joined Padvaiskas’s club team when he was 11 years old, then spent four years under his tutelage at St. John’s. Padvaiskas also followed Fiore’s collegiate career closely. Fiore said he was acutely aware that he was part of a special team when he was a student-athlete at the Prep, and he credits Padvaiskas with creating such a culture.
“He repeated it day after day this past season: ‘We’re not just here to make good swimmers. We’re here to teach them valuable life skills that will make them good people.’”
Though the two possess different coaching styles—Fiore says he’s a little more “laid back”—their goal is the same, and that’s not necessarily winning state championships.
“For both of us, what’s always been the most important thing is the impact the program can have on these boys,” said Fiore. “If I can give one kid the same experience I had, that will be a successful year in my eyes.”
