By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
The Team Elite training group for professional swimmers based out of San Diego, California has announced the addition of Javier Sossa to their training staff. Sossa swam collegiately at Oklahoma Batpist, where he graduated from in 2015. Sossa will work primarily with the pro group, though a team spokesperson says that all coaches wind up working with the newly-formed age group program as well.
Shortly after graduation, he joined the program as an assistant coach, and eventually worked hiss way to assistant head coach and then interim head coach after the death of his former boss and mentor Dr. Sam Freas.
“As an athlete, Javi developed as an international caliber swimmer for Colombia,” Team Elite head coach David Marsh says of his new hire. “His experience as a swimmer and assistant coach under Sam Freas at Oklahoma not only gave him unique insight from one of America’s best coaches, but it helped him to quickly grow into a coach that has worked on all aspects of swimmer development and support.”
Since Oklahoma Baptist moved to Division II of the NCAA prior to the 2017-2018 season, the program has won 5 NCAA Division II event titles, and had 32 First Team All-America awards and 16 Honorable Mention All-America awards. Among the swimmers he coached there included 2018 NCAA Division II 50 free national champion David Lambert, who broke the Division II National Record in the event as a senior.
As an athlete, Sossa, a Colombian native, was an NAIA National Champion, and a member of the Colombian National Team.
Among the current members of the Team Elite training group are Lia Neal, Kathleen Baker, Ryosuke Irie, Jacob Pebley, Anthony Ervin, Ali DeLoof, Gabby DeLoof, Michael Chadwick, Marius Kusch, Kendyl Stewart, Abrahm Devine, Kristian Gkolomeev, and Alyssa Marsh. Team Elite qualified 6 swimmers for the US Olympic Team in 2016.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Team Elite Aquatics Hires Javier Sossa as New Assistant Coach