KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Coach's corner is a weekly segment where fans get acquainted with Kutztown University head coaches. Our next coach in the spotlight is KU women's swimming coach Tim Flannery.
 
Flannery enters his 25th season at Kutztown University in 2020-21. Over his career at Kutztown, Flannery's swimmers have set 158 school records. He has coached 20 NCAA Division II qualifiers who have earned 27 All-America and 26 All-America honorable mention honors, and two individual NCAA titles. His swimmers have also earned 13 PSAC individual and relay titles, while 39 of them were named to the All-PSAC team. The women's swimming team has been honored by the College Swimming Coaches Association as a Scholar All-America Team from 1999-2013, and again from 2016-20. Also, 69 swimmers have been named PSAC Scholar-Athletes under Flannery.
 
A 1986 graduate of Springfield College, Flannery holds a Bachelor of Science degree in health fitness. While a swimmer at Springfield, Flannery was a seven-time NCAA Division II All-American. He also received a Master's of Education in athletic administration from Springfield. He is a member of the College Swimming Coaches Association and American Swimming Coaches Association (Level 4 certified).
 
What makes Kutztown University the destination to be a coach? "What initially drew me to KU was the location. Before I took the job at KU, I had brought my team from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy to the Golden Bear Invitational in December of 1995. I remember coming into Kutztown via 222 and saying to myself, "I could live here". I loved the beauty of the area and the rural location. We had three young children at the time and I thought that this was an ideal place for them to grow up. As far as the University, we've got a great coaching staff that I get to work with every day, quite a few of us have been here awhile which tells you how special a place KU is."
 
Favorite place on campus and/or in town? "Keystone Hall Pool. Whether it's meet day, 6:00AM practice, swim lessons or the Golden Bear Swim Camp, that's my home away from home. It's where the work gets done and the best part is being able to see the finished product: A team win, a best time, stroke improvement or a four-year-old being able to swim on his or her own for the first time. A lot of great things happen at the pool. Out in town, it's probably the Bagel Bar, great place to relax after morning workout and plan practice for the afternoon."
 
Why did you get into coaching? "It was the very first job I was offered out of Springfield College in the fall of 1986. I became the head coach of the Manchester Swim Club in Manchester, NH. I fell in love with it and got to meet a lot of great coaches that season. After my parents, it was mostly the coaches that I've had throughout my lifetime that have had the biggest effect on me. Chris Townsend, my USS Swim Coach, coached me from the time I was seven until I was 18. Bob Minerley, my high school coach, pushed me to go to Springfield College, and then Charlie Smith, my coach at Springfield, made me look at swimming in an entirely different way."
 
Favorite memory as a coach and athlete? "I've got a tie between three for favorite coaching memory.  Beating Army for the first time when I was an assistant coach at Navy, the KU men's team finishing third at PSAC's in 2004 and the KU women's team finishing fourth at PSAC's in 2010. All of them were complete TEAM efforts and the efforts of the KU teams were the best finishes at PSAC's in school history. As an athlete, I anchored a 400-Free Relay in high school and my younger brother Dan anchored our other relay against our league rival. We both were behind by about 12 yards going into our anchor legs. We ended up catching the other team's anchor and finished 1-2 which we needed to do to win the meet. The excitement of my parents after seeing what we both did lives with me forever."
 
What are any gameday rituals? "Wrigley's Doublemint gum, that's a must have on meet day!"
 
Favorite professional team and/or player? "I'm a native of New York so the Giants and Yankees are my favorites. Player is Aaron Judge. I just hope he stays healthy this year."
 
If you weren't coaching, what would you be doing? "Probably working in the Health and Fitness field."
 
Favorite thing(s) to do outside of coaching? "Golf. I don't think about anything else when I'm playing, just the next shot."
 
Any sports heroes growing up? "Mark Spitz. I still remember watching him when I was eight years old at the 1972 Olympics swim to seven Gold Medals. It made me want to be a swimmer."
 
Favorite movie and tv show? "A League of Their Own. I really can relate to Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks) somedays. TV Show: Parks and Rec. I'm a disciple of the Ron Swanson pyramid of greatness."
 
What advice would you give prospective collegiate student-athletes? "Develop great study habits. There is plenty of time to be a great athlete and a great student as long as you have great study habits."
 
Any inspirational quotes you've heard that stays with you? "It's supposed to be hard, if it wasn't hard, everyone would do it, the hard part is what makes it great."