A Swim Down Memory Lane: A UMass Farewell to Bob

Day whichever of Bob’s retirement and he hasn’t been able to get rid of us yet! For today’s guest we have:

UMass Men’s Coach - Russ Yarworth
Head Men’s Coach 1979-2020

Welcome back to the show! We couldn’t send Bob a final farewell without hearing from Russ. Russ coached the Men’s team at UMass and was a great companion to Bob. It was so fun to chat with Russ and hear some of his favorite memories. This will be our last show so enjoy! 

Day 83 of Bob’s retirement and he hasn’t been able to get rid of us yet! For today’s guest we have:

Friend of Cece - Jonathan Freeman 
Voice Actor for Jafar in Disney's Aladdin

We welcome a very special guest to the show, Jonathan Freeman! He sends his well wishes for Bob’s retirement. My husband Steve wanted to contribute to the show so he invited Jonathan to say happy retirement to Bob and congrats to us for our wedding. Get this pandemic done, we got a retirement party to get to!

Day 81 of Bob’s retirement and he hasn’t been able to get rid of me yet! For today’s guest we have:

UMass Women’s Swimming Coach - Bob Newcomb
Head Swim Coach 1985-2020

We welcome the star of the show, Bob! He was so touched by the response of the podcast, he wanted to share some of his favorite memories as our coach. We include a lighting round of some true or false items, so Bob goes way back to find some truths and debunk the false ones. I learned so much about Bob and the team- old traditions, new traditions that this show was an honor for me to do. It is the work I am more proud of. I truly am so thankful to be a part of the UMass swimming family and all because Bob decided to let a  red headed Californian who loved to swim onto the team. Sending huge thank you’s from the bottom of my heart for your support of the podcast. If you participated, listened, shared about the pod, I am so grateful for your contributions. Get this pandemic done, we got a retirement party to get to!

Day 80 of Bob’s retirement and he hasn’t been able to get rid of us yet! For today’s guest we have:

UMass Diving Coach - Mandy Hixon
Head Diving Coach 2002-2017

So thrilled to share that we have Mandy joining us on the pod! She coached along side Bob and Russ from 2002-2017 and has some great memories of Bob. He was always a good sport to have around and always up for a friendly wager. We will be back tomorrow for the last episode and it’s going to be a fun one! Get those flags down, we have a diving break to get to!

Day 79 of Bob’s retirement and he hasn’t been able to get rid of us yet! For today’s guest we have:

Class of 1981 - Bill Tyler
Swim Camp 1991-92, 2000-18
Retired Head Coach for Elms


We welcome one of Bob’s coach friends to the show, Bill! He was so kind to chat with me about his favorite memories of working with Bob and share well wishes for his retirement. Bill swam with Russ back in the day and graduated Class of 1981. We hear about Swim Camp days and looking forward to future days with Bob while in retirement. We will be back tomorrow for another episode to share! All of the kids are ready for the no talent show so here we go!

Day 78 of Bob’s retirement and he hasn’t been able to get rid of us yet! For today’s guest we have:

UMass Associate AD for Swimming 2010-18 - Joan Hopkins


I am thrilled to welcome our next guest, we welcome Joan to the podcast! Joan was a former colleague of Bob’s as she was the Associate AD for Swimming and shares some wonderful memories of Bob. She was a swim coach herself and knew how intense the job of a swim coach can be- the long hours, being on the road, being there for your swimmers. She takes us to A10’s and the coaches meetings that went late into the night, this is a great episode to hear! We will be back Monday for another episode to share! Here we gooooooo, M-A-S-S-A-C-H-U-S-E-T-T-S MASSA MASSACHUSETTS!

Day 77 of Bob’s retirement and he hasn’t been able to get rid of us yet! For today’s guest we have:

Class of 2009 - Kaitlin Gass
Off Campus Residence - Red House
Stroke - Butterfly/IM

We welcome one of my closest friends and teammate Kait to the podcast! By chance, Kait and I were Freshman roommates and have remained close through out college and even to today. Kait was in a wedding this summer and gave the perfect speech. She shares some of her favorite memories with Bob and some of the things from swim camp days. I feel so fortunate for Kait’s friendship and we have Bob to thank for rooming us together Freshman year! We will be back tomorrow for another episode to share! Here we gooooooo, M-A-S-S-A-C-H-U-S-E-T-T-S MASSA MASSACHUSETTS!

Day 76 of Bob’s retirement and he hasn’t been able to get rid of us yet! For today’s guest we have:

Class of 1990 - Michele “Shelf” Leary
Off Campus Residence - Sylvan/down Rt 116/High St
Stroke - Mid-distance Free

This is a super fun episode as we welcome Michele to the podcast! She joined the team in 1985 and ended up swimming a fifth year. She held five records during her time and was inducted into the UMass Hall of Fame for Swimming. She shares wonderful (PG) stories of Bob and her experience on the team. I feel so fortunate I got to chat with her and this episode is a for sure listen! We will be back tomorrow for another episode to share! Here we gooooooo, M-A-S-S-A-C-H-U-S-E-T-T-S MASSA MASSACHUSETTS!

Day 75 of Bob’s retirement and he hasn’t been able to get rid of us yet! For today’s guest we have:

Class of 1987 - Allison Uzzo De Bellis
Off Campus Residence - Downtown Amherst
Stroke - Distance Free

Yesterday we welcomed one of Bob’s last swimmers but today we are going to welcome one of his first! We’re going way back in the archives and welcome Allison to the pod! She was a Sophomore for Bob’s first year as the coach and have so many wonderful things to share. We chat about how Bob prepared all of us for life, was he our swim coach or get ready for life coach 🤔 Swimming is an individual sport but Bob really emphasized the team aspect and they are great skills to have. We will be back Monday for another episode to share! Here we gooooooo, M-A-S-S-A-C-H-U-S-E-T-T-S MASSA MASSA CHUSETTS!

Day 74 of Bob’s retirement and he hasn’t been able to get rid of us yet! For today’s guest we have:

Class of 2021 - Mariam Labib
Off Campus Residence - Hadley
Stroke - Sprint Free

Let’s have so much fun with today’s episode as we welcome a current member of the team, Mariam! She is currently a Senior and enjoying her last year on Campus. She is originally from Canada and just returned home for the holidays. It is tough to admit which episodes are my favorite but it is so much joy to chat with the current members of the team as they bring so much energy and enthusiasm to the podcast! With Mariam, we chat surgeries, traditions and so much more! We will be back tomorrow for another episode to share! We have the first meet of the season tomorrow, time to go prank Bob’s house!