A letter to the Editor from todays SF Chronicle:
Support for Skip Kenney
Editor -- In response to your recent coverage of Coach Skip Kenney's removal of swimmers' times from the Stanford Swimming media guide ("Stanford swim coach pulled from job,'' March 10), a group of us wanted to share our own personal experiences from our time in Skip's program.
We want to be clear we were happy to see an apology from Skip for his error in judgment. However, his actions in this case do not represent our 30 years of experience swimming for him.
Skip's support and his ability to foster a family and team environment at Stanford led many of us to great heights in our sport. His impressive record of 26 consecutive Pac-10 Conference championships and seven NCAA team titles speaks for itself.
Still, it was Skip's efforts outside the pool, his intense focus on our personal development and his desire to see us grow into men, that we are most appreciative of to this day. Skip's teams are always successful in competition, but we are just as proud of the fact that they are also models of the student-athlete ideal.
Skip has coached dozens of Academic All-Americans in his 30 years as head coach, and his athletes have not only graduated, but gone on to highly successful careers after college.
Most important, though, the Stanford swim team under Skip has become a family, one where we have all learned to compete against ourselves to be the best -- as swimmers, as students and as people.
Whether it involves our own families, relationships, or jobs, the values Skip taught us have benefited us long after graduation.
We know these same values will help the current Stanford swimmers, who head to the NCAA Championships this week, to swim to their full potential. Our best wishes are with them.
SCOTT CLAYPOOL, Class of '98
San Francisco
(This letter was signed by 49 other former Stanford swimmers from 20 classes between 1979 and 2005.)
A letter to the Editor from todays SF Chronicle:
Support for Skip Kenney
Editor -- In response to your recent coverage of Coach Skip Kenney's removal of swimmers' times from the Stanford Swimming media guide ("Stanford swim coach pulled from job,'' March 10), a group of us wanted to share our own personal experiences from our time in Skip's program.
We want to be clear we were happy to see an apology from Skip for his error in judgment. However, his actions in this case do not represent our 30 years of experience swimming for him.
Skip's support and his ability to foster a family and team environment at Stanford led many of us to great heights in our sport. His impressive record of 26 consecutive Pac-10 Conference championships and seven NCAA team titles speaks for itself.
Still, it was Skip's efforts outside the pool, his intense focus on our personal development and his desire to see us grow into men, that we are most appreciative of to this day. Skip's teams are always successful in competition, but we are just as proud of the fact that they are also models of the student-athlete ideal.
Skip has coached dozens of Academic All-Americans in his 30 years as head coach, and his athletes have not only graduated, but gone on to highly successful careers after college.
Most important, though, the Stanford swim team under Skip has become a family, one where we have all learned to compete against ourselves to be the best -- as swimmers, as students and as people.
Whether it involves our own families, relationships, or jobs, the values Skip taught us have benefited us long after graduation.
We know these same values will help the current Stanford swimmers, who head to the NCAA Championships this week, to swim to their full potential. Our best wishes are with them.
SCOTT CLAYPOOL, Class of '98
San Francisco
(This letter was signed by 49 other former Stanford swimmers from 20 classes between 1979 and 2005.)
