Metea Valley's Schweer nets highest coaching honor for swimmers

In 1975, a Glenbrook North senior named Tom Schweer sat front and center at the annual state swimming conference to watch his coach, Art Van Aman, receive the highest honor the Illinois Swimming Association presents to coaches.

Now, 35 years and numerous state titles later, Schweer, the Metea Valley High School athletic director, has his own John Newman Award and a place in the ISA's Hall of Fame.

The Illinois Hall of Fame award, named in honor of Lane Tech's John Newman, is presented annually by the Illinois Swimming Association to the person who during their career has promoted swimming in Illinois at all levels through leadership, service and outstanding achievement.

"I found watching Art accept that award to be very cool because I think that guy is the best thing since sliced bread," Schweer said Wednesday. "And the person who nominated me was a guy named (Hinsdale Central girls swimming coach) Bobby Barber, but he also swam for me and was a state champion for our team so there's a lot of symmetry there."

Barber said Wednesday that he considered it an honor to nominate Schweer and present him with the award at a recent banquet.

"(Schweer) is not only a really accomplished swimmer and coach but he's a great guy," Barber said. "I was happy to nominate him."

In order to be considered for the Newman Award and induction into the Illinois Swimming Hall of Fame, a coach must meet five of the following criteria: 10 seasons of coaching, at least one state title, two top-three finishes, four top-five finishes, six top-0 finishes, eight sectional titles or state champions and 40 High School All-Americans.

Schweer, a nine-time Coach of the Year winner, guided the Hinsdale Central boys to three straight state championships from 1997-1999 before opening St. Charles North as athletic director in 2000. He returned to coaching in 2007-08 to lead Waubonsie Valley's girls swimmers to ninth- and fourth-place state finishes before opening Metea Valley earlier this year as athletic director at the Indian Prairie Unit District 204 school in Aurora.

"This is a very nice honor. I firmly believe if you win an MVP award it pretty much has to do with you but this one has more to do with the people who surrounded me for 37 years," Schweer said. "I was very fortunate to have a lot of great athletes and assistant coaches surrounding me during that time and this honor really belongs to all of them for bringing out the best in me."

And if Schweer has any say, they, too, will one day share the Newman Award honor.

"The thing I enjoyed the most is that there's probably between 12 and 20 assistant coaches or head coaches in the state who either swam for me or coached with me and that's very neat," he said. "I enjoy that but I feel a little inadequate standing next to some of those guys now because they're all doing so well."