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This week on Navigating Neva, we’re joined by Beth—an aquatics and PE professional whose work spans Physical Education & Aquatics, Driver Education, coaching Women’s Varsity Swimming, Men’s Varsity Swimming, Women’s Water Polo, supporting Special Olympics Swimming, and serving as an American Red Cross LGIT/CPRIT.

We get practical about what it takes to run a high-functioning high school aquatics program—the structure, the roles, the culture, and the non-negotiables that keep athletes safe while helping them grow.

In this episode, we cover:

• High school aquatics program structure
  • Program model: teams, classes, and community use (when applicable)
• Staffing, supervision, and deck roles
  • Who does what, when it matters, and how to prevent “coverage gaps”
• Safety culture
  • Beth’s true non-negotiables and how they show up daily on deck
• Special Olympics swimming
  • Inclusion, communication, and dignity on deck
  • What good support actually looks like (staffing, pacing, environment)
  • Success metrics beyond “times”
• Instructor/trainer lens (ARC LGIT/CPRIT)
  • How Beth approaches training lifeguards and instructors
  • Common gaps she sees—and how she fixes them
  • Maintaining readiness and consistency across the season

If you’re a school aquatic director, coach, lifeguard supervisor, PE teacher, or facility leader, this one is a playbook episode—clear expectations, strong systems, and athlete-centered outcomes.

Beth—thanks for being here.

You can find Beth on insta 

Instagram: @hornetaquatics

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