Kirby Schaufler
Coach
Kirby has been involved with
swimming in Marysville since moving here to take a teaching job at
Cedarcrest School in 1991.
His involvement with swimming started long before that as a
swimmer for the Thurston Olympia Swim Club as a youth.
He competed in the High School State Meet for North Thurston High
School in 1978 with a top 6 finish. He went on to Swim at
NCAA Division 3 Grinnell College in Iowa and was an All-Conference
swimmer each of his 4 years. He also earned the Doug Johnson
Memorial Leadership Award, and was team captain, his final 2 years
at Grinnell. He also formed and coached the Grinnell College
Water Polo Team for 4 years. After Grinnell College Kirby went on
to earn a Masters Degree of Science in Physical Education at the
University of Florida.
Kirby began his swim coaching at Shoreline High School and later
Garfield High School in Seattle. He then became the Inaugural
Head Coach of the Queen Anne Swim Club, also in Seattle, from
1986-1991. He also was a Zone All Star Coach for the PNS from
1988-1990.
After moving to Marysville Kirby became an assistant coach at
Marysville Pilchuck High School and became involved in USA Swimming
with several programs for Junior High swimmers. He became
involved with the Marysville Marlins Swim Team from 1997-2002 and
became the first Head Coach of the Mighty Marlins Swim Club, which
formed from the school
district sponsored team in 2002. After many years of effort
to start a Junior High Team one was formed in 2000 and Kirby became
the first head coach, and he is still the head coach, of the team
affectionately known as the Hatchetfish. Kirby is very proud
of the Mighty Marlins Swim Clubs success at providing opportunities
for young individuals to learn the valuable skills of commitment,
and dedication, to achieve goals, and of the positive effect the
club has in the
Marysville community. Kirby has had the honor of coaching 2
age group swimmers ranked in the top 5 nationally, 4 Western Zone
Champions, and 1 Junior National Qualifier.
Kirby continues to remain active in sports. He has completed
many Triathlons, including 2 Ironman Triathlons, and over 10
Marathons. He also stays in good enough swimming shape to
compete in relays when the team needs him. Kirby looks
forward to the Mighty Marlins Swim Club being a positive part
of Marysville, and surrounding communities,
for many years to come
