Kobe Dominguez grew up in West Hartford, was an accomplished swimmer at Hall High School and in college, and has returned to town as a coach.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

The blood that flows through the veins of Kobe Dominguez must be part chlorine.

The son of a synchronized swimmer (Jennifer) and a high school and college swimmer and now coach (Juan), he has always been drawn to the water. At a young age he began swimming as part of the Mandell JCC Sharks and other club teams before a stellar career at Hall High School and Southern Connecticut State University.

Now his life, like a lap in the pool, has come full circle as Dominguez has just completed his first year as the head swim coach at the JCC.

Kobe Dominguez. Courtesy of Paul Palmer

“It is awesome to try to incorporate some of the goals we had when I swam here and build the team back to what it used to be,” he said recently. His father, Juan, was one of his coaches with the Sharks and has been the long time head coach at Hartford’s Bulkeley High School. “Dad has coached forever and now he loves to hear what we are doing.”

While at Hall, Kobe was selected an All-Conference swimmer and was also an All-State selection. At Southern, he swam under the mentorship of legendary coach Tim Quill, who passed away suddenly earlier this year. As a member of the Owls he was a 12-time NE-10 medalist.

He specialized in backstroke and breaststroke, and earned All-Conference Academic honors, majoring in finance. “I coached swimming during the summer and fell in love with it,” he said. “In my senior year I realized this is what I wanted to do.”

At Mandell JCC, he has set about putting together a coaching staff and a program incorporating the lessons he had learned over his time in the pool. “I learned a lot from Tim. He had individual relationships with every swimmer on the team,” Dominguez said of his college coach. “I want to try and do that with every kid on the team.”

To help, he brought in a pair of SCSU swim teammates in Dylan Prescher and Nick Zerva to join the Sharks staff. “I’ve seen this program at so many levels,” Dominguez said of the Sharks.

Kobe Dominguez (yellow cap, front row) with MJCC Sharks, c. 2011. Photo courtesy of Paul Palmer

In year one as the head coach the team saw 38 new swimmers join and his swimmers set 29 team records with the summer long course season still in full swing. That growth is important to Dominguez, but it is not the most important thing. “I like to help kids  grow inside and outside the pool. I love to see them grow as people,” the coach said of his swimmers.

Dominguez said his team is always looking for new swimmers of all ages – from ages 6 up – to join his team. “As a coach there is a lot of learning because swimming is always changing and all swimmers need different things,” said Dominguez.

Among those in the pool this summer is his youngest sister, Lexi. Following in the footsteps of Kobe and their sister Kali, she too is a swimmer at Southern.

The Sharks swim year round as part of Connecticut Swimming, offering both short course and long course as well as open water competitions.”I want to see West Hartford swimming back to where it can be,” he said of his goals.

For more information or to schedule a tryout with the Sharks, email Dominguez at: [email protected].

Editors Note: Writer Paul Palmer’s daughter swam on the Sharks with Dominguez and was coached by his father Juan with the team.

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