Holtrey to Retire from Storied Career

The 2013-2014 season will mark the end of Coach Holtrey's remarkable 45-year Hawken coaching career, one which garnered him national recognition for his record-breaking accomplishments.

During his coaching career, Jerry Holtrey led Hawken's swim teams to 25 state championships - 23 for the girls, and two for the boys. When the Hawken girls swim team won its 14th consecutive state championship in 2012, it broke the Ohio High School Athletic Association record for most consecutive titles in any sport or division, surpassing the previous record held by St. Edward’s wrestling teams. The consecutive state record now stands at a record breaking 15, which Hawken girls reset after their 2013 state championship win.

At the time of the girls 2012 win, it was written that “The Hawken School girls proved they have no peer when it comes to winning state swimming championships.”

Jerry’s accomplishments have received local, state and national recognition. He was inducted into the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame, the Ohio High School and the American Swimming Coaches Association Coaches Hall of Fame. He has coached hundreds of All-American swimmers, including Olympians Melanie Valerio '87 and Diana Munz, and open water world champion Erica Rose '00. Dedicated in 2003, Hawken's state-of-the-art natatorium was named Holtrey Pool in Jerry's honor.

 

A celebration and appreciation of Jerry's stellar career is being planned for January.

Looking ahead to the 2014-2015 season, Hawken announces that Jim Bocci, currently the Aquatics Director and Head Swimming Coach at Spire Institute, and the current Director of the LESD, will assume Holtrey’s position as Hawken School’s boys and girls head swimming coach. Prior to his current position with Spire and LESD, Bocci was head coach at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia. Under his guidance, Fork Union was consistently ranked as one of the top 10 high school teams in the country, winning two Virginia State championship titles, three Virginia Prep League titles, and one USA-Swimming Virginia Senior Championship title.

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