JSerra All-County swimmer Katie McLaughlin will be withdrawing from the school, and her mother, Mary, has resigned as the Lions’ girls swim coach, the school and the family said Thursday.
Katie McLaughlin, a junior who set Orange County and CIF-SS Division 1 records last season in the 100-yard butterfly and 200 freestyle, will be withdrawing from JSerra “right away,” her father, Jamie, said.
Mary McLaughlin, a walk-on coach who guided the JSerra girls to the past two CIF-SS Division 1 titles and a national record in the 400 free relay last May, resigned Thursday, Lions athletic director Jim Hartigan said.
Hartigan called the resignation “surprising.” He referred questions regarding the reason for the resignation to Mary McLaughlin, whom he said was in good standing with the school.
Jamie McLaughlin declined to address the reasons for the moves, but said his wife, the Register’s 2013 girls coach of the year, is disappointed to be leaving the swimmers on the team.
“She loves those kids,” he said.
In a letter that was sent to the families of the swimmers on Thursday, JSerra said a “series of unfortunate events” occurred in “recent days concerning our aquatics community” but didn’t go into details.
The McLaughlin’s son, Jack, a freshman water polo player, enrolled this week at Dana Hills, Jamie McLaughlin said.
Jamie McLaughlin said a decision on his daughter’s next school hasn’t been made. The U.S. junior team member continues to train and compete with the Mission Viejo Nadadores, he said.
JSerra Aquatics Letter
Dear Aquatics Families,
Many of you are aware of a series of unfortunate events that have occurred in recent days concerning our aquatics community. These incidents do not reflect the mission of our school and have caused the administration to evaluate both the structure and leadership of these programs. We wish to share with you decisions made in this regard.
First, we have decided to hire an assistant athletic director whose responsibilities will include oversight of the aquatics programs. This person will be on campus full-time and assist with the supervision of other athletic programs as well. Depending on the skill set and experience of the chosen candidate, he or she may assume coaching responsibilities of one or more of the aquatics programs. We thank Julie Ertel for her work as aquatics director and will communicate to you at a future date her plans with respect to her involvement in the girls’ water polo program.
Second, effective immediately, Mary McLaughlin has resigned from her position as head swim coach. We are deeply appreciative of her efforts to build a championship-level program over the years and wish her success in her future endeavors. In the interim, practices for athletes in this program will continue as planned and be conducted by the assistant coaches. We will begin interviewing candidates for this position tomorrow with the intention of having a qualified individual in place by the official start of the season.
Finally, we have met with Paul Cruzan in order to clearly identify objectives and guidelines for the administration of the boys’ water polo program. We ask for our parents’ cooperation in entrusting to him all management responsibilities. As head coach, he should be the sole point of contact with the school regarding all day-to-day affairs of the program.
While these types of personnel decisions can be difficult to understand from the perspective of both parents and students, we ask that you trust this process of discernment by the administration. We have prayerfully considered these steps and believe them to be in the best interest of our students, our programs, and the mission of our school.
Sincerely,
Richard T. Meyer James Hartigan Headmaster Athletic Director
