Rich leads new Blaze swim team
Zeke Rich
Leading the program is head coach Ezekiel “Zeke” Rich, who serves as the aquatics coordinator for the City of Clinton. He started in his role with the city last May.
In addition, Rich also serves as head coach of the Clinton Sharks, who will start their season June 1.
Rich is a native of Powell and attended Johnson University in Knoxville. He got involved with aquatics five years ago, working with the Boys and Girls Clubs as a swimming instructor and coach.
He said the Blaze has 20 members with boys and girls from the fourth and fifth grades this spring. Starting in the fall, the team will be made up of fifth and sixth graders as the current classes move up a grade. It figures to be a fifth and sixth grade sport from that point forward.
The regular season will start about the same time as the fall school semester and end in early December.
The exhibition scheduled for Thursday will feature several teams Rich has invited and is not just for fun.
“We just want to try to get them ‘[the Blaze] used to the whole swim meet process and let them see what a meet is like,” he said.
Rich likes what he sees so far with the Blaze.
“They are extremely enthusiastic and interested. It’s impressive how fast they’re learning and what strong swimmers they already are. We’ve only been practicing for about a month and they’ve improved tremendously,” Rich said.
He and his wife Allison Rich, a first grade teacher at Clinton Elementary, reside in Clinton.
The meet is scheduled for Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Clinton Community Center.