Morse swim head coach Todd Marco stands with his daughter, Eliza Marco, after she was named outstanding female swimmer of the 2023 KVAC Class B division. Eliza also won the 2024 award. Photo Courtesy of Todd Marco

When the high school swim season begins in November, the Morse pool deck will be without a familiar face for the first time in years.

Todd Marco, who has captained the Shipbuilders swim program for 32 years, retired from coaching at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season. Marco said the decision has been in the works for years as he wanted to focus on his three children and their own high school careers. He also wanted to make sure the program had a successor in place.

Marco’s teams won 31 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference titles (15 for the boys’ team, 16 for the girls’) and two Class A titles (2006 with the boys and 2010 with the girls).

“He definitely could be put on the Mount Rushmore of coaching for the history of Morse,” said new Morse swim coach Spencer Hallowell.

Marco swam at Morse from 1985-88 and joined the coaching staff as an assistant in 1991. After a year, Marco was promoted to head coach, a position he kept for over the next three decades.

Marco said he never kept track of his career wins and losses, but estimated Morse won over 200 meets in his tenure — 400 if he counted the boys’ and girls’ teams separately.

The success in the pool is evident, but it was Marco’s commitment to working with swimmers of all skill levels that cemented his legacy, said Brian Savage, who swam at Morse from 1992-96.

“I remember Todd teaching me how to do flip turns, because I was a brand new swimmer when I started (at Morse),” Savage said. “He just kept having me do them and kept having me do them. I would do them and I would be miserable at them. I’d get out of the pool, I’d be mad, and he would always just be calm and try to keep me at it. He had so many of those experiences with so many kids.”

This is how Savage learned how to be patient as a coach; something he did at Long Reach Swim Club in Bath in 2000. For the past few years, Savage’s sons, Anders and Wylder, were also able to tap into Marco’s coaching philosophy — have fun and swim fast, in that order.

“We screwed around a lot,” Marco said about his team dynamics. “That’s what kids like to do. Mindset-wise it would make them happier, so our feeling was they would always swim faster.”

Knowing that many of his swimmers were swimming for Jay Morissette at Long Reach during the high school season, the two coaches would create complementary workout plans for each evening practice as to not tire each athlete out.

It worked. Numerous state records were broken in the 1990s, and then the 2010 girls’ team won the Class A swimming and diving championship without any divers. Morse was always in contention in team competition and its  swimmers routinely stood on top of conference and state podiums.

Hallowell, who has been on the Morse coaching staff since 2018, hopes to add to that success. Hallowell was also a member of the Shipbuilder boys’ squad that won the 2006 Class A title.

Hallowell’s top priority this season is to grow the program and add depth. That all starts, he says, with maintaining a fun and easygoing environment.

“That’s one of the most important things for an individual sport, making sure all the athletes are having fun,” Hallowell said. “(sMarco) certainly did that. While he challenged us, he made sure that we were having a good time.”

Marco is excited for his former swimmer to take over the program, adding that it should be an easy transition. Marco also said that Morse boys’ team — who finished runners-up in Class B last season — could be a strong contender for a state title.

“We have one of the best boys’ teams since, probably 2006. I didn’t want to leave him with nobody,” Marco joked.