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Seth Baron is in his seventh season as the head coach of the Georgia Tech men’s swimming and diving team and third year as the head coach of Tech’s combined men’s and women’s swimming and diving program. This year Baron will find his Yellow Jackets competing in the newly completed Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, host of the 1996 Olympic Games.
In the off-season, construction finished the enclosure of the facility so that the Jackets could compete there on a year-round basis. Tech will host eight events in the upcoming 2003-04 season.
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.
Baron has compiled a 36-33 men’s dual-meet record and a 9-13 women’s mark during his first six years on the job, and has improved the Jackets’ scoring at the ACC meet in five of his six seasons. Also during his time in Atlanta, the Yellow Jackets have been listed among the NCAA Division I All-Academic Swim Teams each semester, including a 10th-place finish in NCAA Division I for the men and 30th-place finish for the women this past spring semester.
Under Baron's guidance, four Tech swimmers have earned All-America honors, five different swimmers have qualified for the NCAA Championships and the team has finished in the Top 30 for three straight seasons. There have been three Tech ACC Champions and 12 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. Twenty-three swimming and diving student-athletes made the ACC Honor Roll this past year and a total of 93 have been honored over the years. Shilo Ayalon earned Verizon Academic All-America honors this past season and was awarded the James Weaver Corrigan Post-Graduate Scholarship, given by the Atlantic Coast Conference for excellence in academics and athletics.
During the summer of 1997, Baron served as the head coach for the United States 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.
Baron is a 1987 graduate of Auburn University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing.
Baron enjoyed a successful career as a swimmer at Auburn. An NCAA All-American with the Tigers, Baron was a key member in leading the team to four consecutive top-15 appearances. He served as the team’s captain during his senior year.
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.
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 Allen and the couple has a son Joshua Robert, who was born in February 2000. They are expecting their second child in December 2003. A native of Boca Raton, Fla., he enjoys golf, camping, hiking and biking.
