Boys swimming: Slenn has left his mark on program at Ridley

RADNOR — Liam Egan’s name won’t be inscribed on the Delaware County record board. His high school career will end without ever qualifying for states.

But Egan, like countless other swimmers through the years, has earned a more profound distinction: He is the kind of swimmer who epitomizes the efforts of Ridley coach Kurt Slenn.

As Slenn prepares to call time on that career after this season, swimmers like Egan still bring the widest of smiles to his face.

“The swimmers I will remember the most are the ‘ D’ or ‘ E’ level swimmers who became ‘ B’ level swimmers,’ Slenn said Saturday at the Central League Championships, “even more than the kids that came in as ‘ Bs and left as ‘ As.’

“He builds a lot of confidence in swimmers,’ Egan said. “I remember my freshman year, I went to the first practice, thought ‘ I couldn’t do.’ And the next time I went to practice, he pulled me aside and told me, ‘ you’re a great swimmer. You can do it, but you just have to keep working at it.’ And now here I am today as one of the captains of the swim team, and it’s a great feeling.’

Slenn has been at the helm of Ridley swimming for the last 20 years, 10 as the coach of both squads and the last 10 with just the boys. That symmetry was one of the signs that it was the right time to go.

For several years, Slenn has deliberated over when to draw the curtain on his head coaching career, and the time seemed right for a variety of reasons. The most pertinent was his responsibility to his full-time job as an accountant, and the push and pull between professions led to him sleeping about three hours a night by his estimation for six months of the year.

The other aspects that can drive coaches from the poolside — the parents, the administrators, the swimmers — are what Slenn will miss most. That’s also why the operative term in his retirement announcement is “head coach,’ as he still hopes to assist and be involved with the sport for which he’s grown such a deep affection.

In pondering his retirement, Slenn heeded one particularly poignant piece of advice: “It’s always better to leave one year too early than one year too late,’ he recounted, “and I feel like I’m leaving one year too early.’

After posting an 11-4 record this season, Slenn has a group that perfectly encapsulates what he’s strived to build at Ridley.

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Ridley coach Kurt Slenn has his stopwatch at the ready at Saturday's Central League Championships. Slenn is stepping down after 20 years as a coach at Ridley and leaves behind two decades of youngsters who became better swimmers and, in many cases, better people, under his guidance. (Times Staff/ERIC HARTLINE)