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Seth Baron completed his eighth season as the men's head coach and fourth season as the men's and women's head coach in 2004-05.
His program saw another first since his arrival in 1998, Georgia Tech hosted the Atlantic Coast Conference Swimming & Diving Championships for both the men and the women in the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
In front of the home crowd, the men's team rallied past North Carolina on the final day of competition to finish third, for just the second time in program history, with 429 points. That made five consecutive finishes in the top five for the Aqua Jacket men at the conference meet.
Junior Sam Morgan captured his first ACC title at the men's ACC meet and went on to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Championships with a 14th-place finish in the 1650 free, leading the men to a 32nd-place finish.
On the women's side, Baron tutored Tech's first ACC champion, Vesna Stojanovska, in the 200 butterfly. Stojanovska went on to earn All-ACC honors with a runner-up finish in the 200 freestyle and Elizabeth Stowe finished third in the 1650 free to garner All-ACC honors to lead Tech to a program-best 286.5 points and a sixth-place finish. Tech had two swimmers earn all-conference honors at the same meet for the first time since the inception of the women's program in 2001-02.
Tech qualified two athletes for the Women's NCAA Championships, Stojanovska and Stowe, for the first time in the history of the program, but both athletes failed to score at the meet.
In dual meet competition, Baron led the Yellow Jackets to records of 5-4, 4-2 ACC on the men's side and 3-6, 1-5 ACC on the women's side. The men's team made a brief appearance in the CSCAA rankings, dropping in at No. 25, after winning five of its last six dual meets, falling only to six-time defending ACC champion Virginia.
In 2003-04, the Tech combined program reached a first as both the men and women posted NCAA finishes and freshman Vesna Stojanovska became the first Tech woman to earn All-America honors. Tech was one of 23 schools to have both the men's and the women's teams finish in the Top 35 at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.
Stojanovska finished 10th in the 200-meter fly at the 2004 Women's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, to garner All-America honors and lead the Rambling Wreck to a 33rd-place finish. The Skopje, Macedonia, native also swam the 200- and 400-meter freestyle events for the Jackets, finishing in a tie for 23rd and 37th, respectively.
Sophomore Sam Morgan qualified for his second straight Men's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, posting a 15th-place finish in the 1500-meter freestyle and 44th-place finish in the 400-meter free, earning All-America honors in the 1500m free. The Yellow Jackets finished 35th at the NCAA meet, placing in the Top 35 for the fourth consecutive season.
The men's team placed in the top five for the fourth consecutive year at the ACC Championships, scoring 392 points to finish fifth. The women's team scored a program-best 282 points, finishing 13 points shy of fifth place.
Freshman Ryan Bishop earned All-ACC honors in the 400 individual medley for the Yellow Jackets, tallying a third-place finish at the men's ACC meet. Bishop became the ninth athlete to garner such honors under Baron's direction.
Another first for the Tech combined program happened in the summer of 2004 in Athens, Greece. Current swimmers Stojanovska (Macedonia) and freshman Onur Uras (Turkey) joined former Tech graduates Jorge Oliver (Puerto Rico) and Leo Salinas (Mexico) at the Athens Olympics to become the first Yellow Jackets to compete in the Olympiad Games.
Baron has compiled a 45-44 men's dual-meet record and a 16-26 women's mark during his eight years on the job. Also during his time in Atlanta, the Yellow Jackets have been listed among the NCAA Division I All-Academic Swim Teams each semester, including an Academic All-American every semester of his tenure.
Under Baron's guidance, six Tech swimmers have earned All-America honors, nine different swimmers have qualified for the NCAA Championships and the team has finished in the Top 35 at nationals in five straight seasons. There have been five Tech ACC champions and 16 All-ACC performers, including a school record five at the 2001 meet.
Along with excellence in the pool, Baron has implemented a strong foundation for education that breeds success at Tech. The women's team finished No. 6 in the CSCAA team rankings for grade point average and the men's team finished 20th in the CSCAA final team rankings for academics for the winter/spring semester during the 2003-04 academic calendar. The women's team was the only squad to crack the top 10 academically and score points at the NCAA Championships.
A total of 24 Tech swimmers made the ACC Academic Honor Roll team in 2003-04 and three (Matt Figh, Jason Howard and Ashley Kracke) made the CSCAA Academic All-America honorable mention team.
In 2003, Shilo Ayalon earned Verizon Academic All-America honors and was awarded the James Weaver Corrigan Post-Graduate Scholarship, given by the Atlantic Coast Conference for excellence in academics and athletics.
The 2002-03 campaign was another successful one in just the second season of having a combined program. Baron led the women's team to a sixth-place finish at the ACC Championships, two places higher than the previous season. For the men, they finished in the top four for the fourth straight season, scoring 471 points to place fourth overall. Two Jackets qualified for the NCAA Championships as the men ended in a tie for 28th place. Senior Shilo Ayalon (500 free, 1650 free, 400 IM) earned All-America honors for the third consecutive season, placing fourth in the 1650 free. Freshman Sam Morgan (500 free, 1650 free) became the first Jacket rookie to qualify for NCAAs and finished 18th in the 1650 free. Tech tallied 15 points at the national championship.
The 2001-02 season proved to be an impressive debut as a combined program for the Yellow Jackets. The men's squad continued its rise among the nation's elite, as Tech finished a program-best second at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships with 580.5 points. The men also tied for 27th at the NCAA Championships and were ranked 22nd in the final NSCAA Top 25 Poll, both program bests. Shilo Ayalon earned All-America honors for the second consecutive season with an eighth-place finish in the 1650 free at NCAAs. A record five Jackets earned all-conference honors.
The women went 5-6 in the dual meet portion of their schedule and placed eighth at the ACC Championships. Cara DeVinny reached the NCAA Championships in three events, an impressive milestone for a first-year team. Anna Saum became the first All-ACC competitor in women's swimming for Tech.
In 2000-01, the men's team posted 434.50 points to earn a third-place finish at the ACC Championships. Tech also scored its first points at the NCAA Championships, earning 10 points to finish 29th. Baron guided the first pair of All-Americans in Tech history, Ayalon and Tomonori Tsuji. Four swimmers earned All-ACC honors.
Prior to the ACC and NCAA Championship meets, Baron paced the Jackets to an 11-3 dual meet record, tying the school record for dual meet wins in a season. Tech swimmers also established 16 school records in `00-01.
Baron spent the summer of 2001 as the head coach of the U.S. team at the 16th World Maccabiah Games. This international event gave Baron the opportunity to work with the likes of Olympic champion Lenny Krayzelburg.
In 1999-2000, Baron led Tech to a 5-6 dual meet record and its highest point total at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship with 289 points, matching the best finish in the program's history with a sixth-place showing. Under Baron's direction, the Yellow Jackets set 15 new school records during the season and clocked in with a school-record nine NCAA provisional times. Prior to last season, the most "B" cuts by a Georgia Tech swim team was two, in 1999. Also, for the first time in 11 years, Tech had an All-ACC honoree as David Laitala earned that recognition with his second-place finish in the 100 butterfly.
During the 1998-99 season, Baron led Tech to its first ACC regular season dual-meet victory, which was a 149-82 decision at Duke. That year, the Jackets scored their second-highest point total in the ACC Championship meet with 192.5. The team placed seventh in the conference championship, but closed the gap on sixth-place Maryland by over 100 points. Tech had its first-ever NCAA B-standard achievements by David Laitala and Theral Mackey.
After heading the U.S. National Team at the Maccabiah Games on two occasions, Baron will once again lead the U.S. at the 17th World Maccabiah Games in July 2005. During the summer of 1997, Baron served as the head coach for the U.S. National Swim Team that competed at the 15th World Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv, Israel. During the Games, the fourth-largest international competition in the world, the U.S. team picked up an impressive 40 medals (12 gold, 17 silver and 11 bronze). While at Auburn and South Carolina, Baron assisted with the coaching of 15 NCAA All-Americans, 13 Olympic Trial qualifiers and two SEC Champions.
As the head coach for the Charlottesville, Va., YMCA Aquatic Club, Baron saw his team make dramatic improvements, including a fourth-place finish at the 1994 YMCA National Championships. For his efforts, he was nominated for the 1994 National YMCA Coach of the Year and the Virginia Swimming Senior Coach of the Year.
Baron also served as the assistant head coach with the United States National Team at the 14th World Maccabiah Games in 1993.
During the 1986-87 season, Baron served as an undergraduate assistant with the Auburn University swim team. Baron returned to his alma mater in 1991 as a graduate assistant coach.
Early in his career, Baron also coached at his high school alma mater, The Bolles School, in Jacksonville, Fla., with his former coach and mentor Gregg Troy, one of the 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic Team coaches.
As a collegiate swimmer at Auburn he garnered All-America honors and was a key member in leading the team to four consecutive top-15 appearances at the NCAA Championships. He served as the team's captain during his senior year and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing in 1987.
Internationally, Baron was a dominant force at the 12th World Maccabiah Games in 1985, as he set records in the 400 medley relay and the 200 individual medley. While in Israel, Baron competed in eight different events and racked up a total of six gold medals and one silver medal. His six gold medals tied a record held by Mark Spitz and Mitch Gaylord for the most medals in a single Maccabiah Games en route to being named Athlete of the Games in 1985.
In the 1983 Pan American Maccabiah Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Baron set records in the 100 fly, 100 free and the 200 free on his way to four gold, four silver and two bronze medals.
Baron was a 1984 participant in the 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle in the Olympic Trials for the XXIII Olympiad. Baron also qualified for the 1988 Olympic Trials for the XXIV Olympiad, though he retired from competitive swimming in the summer of 1987.
Along with his coaching responsibilities, Baron serves on the Board of Directors for the Maccabi U.S.A/Sports for Israel, is part of the Executive Committee and Organizing Committee. He also serves on the Advisory Board for the Center for Sport & Jewish Life.
Baron is married to the former Susan Lynn Allen and the couple have two children, Joshua Robert (4) and Abigail Lynn (born Dec. 18, 2003). A native of Boca Raton, Fla., he enjoys golf, camping, hiking and biking.
