MANSFIELD — For 56 years, the Mansfield City Schools swim team had been given direction from Coach Frank Bartholow. And now, the program has reached the end of an era, as Bartholow has hung up his whistle and retired from his coaching position.
Having earned over 754 wins and coached about 20 All-American swimmers and twice that many academic All-American swimmers, one may find it hard to believe that this swim legend had humble beginnings.
In 1952, Bartholow was a collegiate basketball player at Ohio University. Mid-year, he suffered a knee injury, preventing him from playing ball.
“In those days, about the only therapy was swimming,” mentioned Bartholow. And with that in mind, he started working out with the swim team.
“I could swim fairly decent, but not competitively. I didn’t even know there was such a thing,” he admitted.
During swim practice, he would listen to the OU coach, Tommy Thomas, he said. “And for some reason, all those things that the coach did for the swim team stuck.”
When he came to Mansfield Schools, however, he didn’t want to coach at first because he wanted to establish himself as a teacher, he said. Bartholow started out at Appleseed Middle School in 1956, and then, mid-year, he was asked if he would like to transfer to the high school.
Along with that high school position as photography/graphing teacher, he took on a new trend that would occur for the next 56 years. The rest is history.
Before Bartholow, Mansfield Senior had a swim program from 1936-1940, but it was canceled because of the war, reported Bartholow. In 1957, he was able to get it going again with 17 swimmers on the team.
Was he intimidated to take over the program?
“Oh jeez, yes. All I could remember was what that college coach was doing, so I tried to remember and do most of that.”
To help him along, he spoke with coaches from opposing teams and asked them questions.
He described one instance in particular in which he had one of his swimmers compete in three races during a meet, which was illegal. After the meet, the opponent coach from Lima High School asked Bartholow if he realized that he had broken a rule. “I didn’t even know what the rules were,” he stated.
Season after season, Bartholow kept learning more about the sport. Three years in, he discovered the Ohio High School Swim Coaches Association. Soon after, he was elected to the Executive Board and served as president for two years.
“But the big thing that really helped me was in 1970 when I started officiating college level championship meets, so I got to talk to those coaches. I even talked to the swimmers, including Mark Spitz, seven-time Olympic gold medalist,” he said.
Not to mention, Bartholow was no stranger to coaching, as he helped coach the football team for nearly 30 years, along with girls volleyball and softball for about four years each.
Recollecting his accomplishments, he noted that something he is especially proud of is the number of swimmers who excelled academically. Visitors to the Frank Bartholow Natatorium will see a row of several certificates from swimmers who have earned a GPA of 3.3 or better. One will also notice a number of university pennants on the wall (about 100), which represent those swimmers who have gone on to college after graduation. Bartholow noted, “I didn’t even start that tradition ‘til the early ‘90s, so I’m sure there’s at least a couple 100 more.”
In addition, several swimmers he coached have gone on to coach, too. Most notably, Kenyon College coach, Jim Steen, who has won more national titles than any other college coach in any sport.
Athletic Director Laurie Romano explained that she has known Bartholow since she was a little girl. “I’ve grown up knowing him all of these years as a friend of the family, as a teacher, and as a coach and have seen how he has the respect of so many people.”
She added, “He’s absolutely been a great role model for all of Mansfield; nobody but him has given that much effort to one sport.”
Even at the age of 80, Bartholow enjoys keeping active, as he participates in a volleyball league called the Mid-Atlantic Volleyball Club. He has been playing with this team for about 12 years. This past May he competed in the U.S. Open and the Senior Olympics in July.
He is now looking forward to play in the World Games in mid-October in St. George, Utah. He mentioned that when he returns to the state, his normal schedule would be to wake up at 5 a.m. to gear up for swim practice.
Now taking the reins is Steve Shoenfelt, who has had 27 years of experience as a swim coach. He started out coaching at the Shelby YMCA and served as coach for the Mansfield Waves for several years. His most recent stop came at Perry High School in Massillon.
Bartholow won’t completely disappear from the swimming scene—he is slated to officiate the middle school swim meets for the upcoming season.
Summing up his experience he stated, “It’s been a lot of fun and I’d do it all again.”
