Swimmers huddle together in advance of a swim meet with Danny Lynam, award-winning coach at the center

Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - 2:12 pm

Danny Lynam has been selected by the Wisconsin Swimming/Diving Coaches Association as the recipient of the 2019-20 NFHS Coaches Association Boys Swimming Coach of the Year Award for Wisconsin.

Lynam led MHS to the WIAA Division 1 state championship in February. The Cardinals won the first state title in program history after finishing second the past two seasons. MHS is also believed to be the first team to win state without a single individual or relay capturing first place.

"It's an honor to win this award in a state that is filled with so many talented and dedicated coaches,'' Lynam said. "I owe everything to my dedicated assistant coaches Mike VerVoort and RJ Leiferman, and our dive coach Cindy Zocher, as well as the amazing group of parents that help support our team.''

The NFHS identifies and recognizes a coach from each state annually for significant achievement in their sport. State-level recipients are considered for NFHS Sectional recognition. National Coaches of the Year are then chosen from the sectional winners. Award recipients are selected based upon a variety of criteria including their coaching record, background, coaching honors, and involvement in community and school organizations.

Each year approximately 1,000 coaches are recognized at the state level, 168 coaches are recognized at the sectional level and 21 coaches are recognized at the national level.

Wisconsin coaches are members of Section 4, which represents the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Recent MHS coaches to win the NFHS award include Lauren Cabalka (girls swimming and diving) in 2018, Ben White (boys volleyball) in 2017-18 and Peter Brenner (girls hockey) in 2012-13.