S&D adds Rob Bellamy to coaching staff

By: Nathan Grube – 04/16/2012

There is a changing atmosphere when it comes to training for the swimming and diving squads starting with the hiring of new assistant coach Rob Bellamy. Bellamy joined the staff at the beginning of the month to replace Brad Green, a UMBC Hall of Famer, who spent one year with the Retrievers as a coach. Bellamy, despite being only 28, has a lot of experience that he is bringing with him to UMBC.

A Maryland native, he attended the University of Massachusetts for four years and was captain of the swimming and diving team his junior year. Bellamy went on to coach both high school swimming as well as serving as an instructor at the Greater Baltimore Swim Association. He became the manager and owner of Snap Fitness in Pasadena where he also worked as a personal trainer and he has become certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Bellamy does think that coaching at UMBC will be different from his past experiences.

“It will be better; the athletes will be more conditioned and ready to handle everything I throw at them. In high school you have to go slowly and make sure everyone is developing properly. Here, everyone is fully developed,” Bellamy said.

Experience as a personal trainer is one of the biggest strengths he brings to the program. He has already put a major emphasis on dry land workouts, such as lifting weights and running.Bellamy and Head Coach Chad Cradock believe strongly that their team has to work hard outside of the pool to stay in shape and that will translate into success inside the pool.

“We go in cycles and it depends on the time of year, we will do more explosive things to work on power and speed,” Bellamy said.

Bellamy has a lot of familiarity with the school and Cradock, including qualifying for the USA Swimming National Championship meet while being coached by Cradock. This played a role in the hiring, as Cradock was excited to be able to bring on a coach that he knew and would be able to count on.

Bellamy will also be heavily involved with recruiting for the Retrievers. He is confident in the strength of the program and its tradition, which he feels will be an easy recruiting tool for UMBC.

“I think the school sells itself. I walked around yesterday with Coach Cradock and I was impressed. It’s a great swim program and it’s a great school and I’m proud to be a part of it,” Bellamy said.

Cradock believes strongly that the addition of Bellamy will really strengthen the team where they are weak.

“We’re looking for some strength in our weakness, which is dry land. He’s brought some strength through his personal training background and he’s worked with young athletes before and we knew he’d be a great addition for us,” Cradock said.

The additional work will increase the load on the athletes, but they are excited to see how it will pay off when it comes time to compete next winter.

Printer-Friendly | Modified Mon Apr 16 22:37:24 2012 – © The Retriever Weekly.