Legendary St Margaret’s swimming coach Kevin Sargent will retire this month after more than 20 years of 5am starts on the pool deck at St Margaret’s.
Kevin, or Kev as he’s fondly known by most, joined St Margaret’s in 2000, tasked with the goal of improving St Margaret’s swimming record. At the time, the school was placing in the bottom two in QGSSSA swimming. A highly experienced coach, Kev had come from Nudgee College where he had been Head Age Group Coach and the school had won 12 consecutive GPS Premierships. Throughout his career, he was also the Director of Australian Swim Camps, was invited to coach in both China and the USA, was the head lifeguard for the Noosa Shire Council, and facilitated the opening of the first pool in Noosa.
Throughout his time at St Margaret’s, the school’s swimming team has gone from last place to consistently placing among the top three or four teams.
“Our goal is to place second at the upcoming QGSSSA competition,” Kev says, a high note we hope he can achieve just two days before his retirement from the school.
Over the past two decades, Kev has seen some very talented swimmers come through the school’s swimming program, including Olympic gold medallists Bronte Barratt (’06) and Britt Elmslie (’11).
A very humble and modest Kev denies any hand in their success, instead focusing on the team culture that he has endeavoured to foster among the swimmers at St Margaret’s.
It is that very team spirit that Bronte Barratt vividly recalls.
“Kev had a big impact on my swimming career while I was at school. He created an environment that was fun and supportive and made me really want to be involved in school swimming, even though at that stage my training schedule outside of school was very intense. Most of my best friends today were my St Margaret’s swimming teammates!” Bronte says.
For anyone who has met Kevin, they would immediately get a sense of his “joie de vivre” and both Bronte and Britt fondly recall one of his favourite quotes: “It’s a beautiful day and it’s great to be alive.”
“I still to this day crack out that quote,” Bronte says.
Like Bronte, Britt also felt a great desire to be part of St Margaret’s swimming, largely due to Kev’s influence, despite having an intensive training schedule outside of school.
“Every Wednesday, even though it was my one morning off a week, I would look forward to my session with Kev. He was warm and welcoming, and would greet each of us with, “It’s a beautiful day, great to be alive”. You could see the passion he had for coaching. Although I was only part of the St Margaret’ swim team in Year 12, I continued to see Kev around pool deck at State and National championships for years to come. Whenever I saw him, we would always stop and have a chat to catch up. He followed my swimming career and I feel like he knew my swimming splits and PBs better than I knew them! Kevin’s love for swimming was evident; he never missed a swim meet,” said Britt.
“Kev was a fantastic coach, but he was also our driver, transporting us to and from swim meets on the bus safely. There weren’t many other school teams that could boast about their coach doubling as their bus driver.”
That’s the thing. Kev’s service to St Margaret’s has been far more reaching than the mark he has left on the school’s swimming program. In charge of transport logistics, Kevin facilitates buses to transport students to and from activities, camps, training sessions and excursions and often drives the buses himself.
He has been to every rowing camp, transported rowers to and from the shed and assisted with cross country. He also spent a long time transporting the Sisters to their home in Crow’s Nest and fondly remembers their morning tea stopovers in Esk on the way. To this day, Kevin’s connection to the Sisters remains strong and he still visits them at their home in Taigum.
While Kev currently leads a team of three swim coaches as Head Coach, he was also instrumental in establishing the school’s Swim Club, including the Adult Swim and Learn to Swim programs.
He has, without doubt, left an indelible mark on swimming at St Margaret’s, which 2022 Swimming Captains Isabella Martin and Faith Philips understand all too well.
“Where do I start! Kev is the reason I am where I am today. His kindness and enthusiasm to the sport has motivated me to always put in effort and taught me I can only race as well as I train. I will always remember him telling us the story of where his best-known quote, “It’s a beautiful day and it’s great to be alive” came from and how he never fails to make the best out of any situation. Kev, thank you for everything you have done for me. You shall be dearly missed from the St Margaret’s swimming team and good luck for your future endeavours!” Isabella said.
Co Swimming Captain Faith Philips recalls Kev’s ‘story times’.
“After a really tough set at training, he would often pull out a folded sheet of paper with a story about his previous coaching experiences that never failed to interest us (and also gave us more time to rest!).
“Kev has been coaching me for 10 years now, and he has significantly influenced my training. Every morning at 6am, he reminds us ‘it’s a beautiful day and it’s great to be alive’, which keeps me motivated throughout the training session. His ‘seal of approval’ and ‘big hand’ also encourages most of us to maintain perfect technique and push ourselves even when we are tired,” Faith said.
Both Faith and Isabella acknowledged that Kev has fostered an environment at St Margaret’s where every girl can flourish.
“He makes sure every girl feels involved at training and pushes us to do our best. At swim meets, he will always congratulate girls for getting a personal best (PB) time, creating an encouraging and friendly environment for all of us,” Faith said.
“Kev has created a culture where every girl is encouraged to improve not only in the pool, but as an athlete as a whole. He has created a culture in the QG system where girls are motivated to train and race their best, whether it be a 50m freestyle, a 100m butterfly or a 200m medley relay. The Maggies team would not be as amazing as it is without him,” Isabella said.
As for retirement plans, Kevin is looking forward to slowing down and more of that joire de vivre. He plans to spend time with his family, including his new granddaughter, and travelling to his beloved Hawaii where he loves nothing more than to swim along Waikiki Beach.
Forever a passionate swim coach, however, Kevin says: “I still plan to keep my hand in coaching too, either within Australia or overseas.”
“I’ve had a great stint at St Margaret’s – I’ve really enjoyed it,” he says. “I’ve appreciated the support from the leadership team including the Principal, Ros Curtis, and the school’s ethos to educate the whole child, making extracurricular activities like swimming really valued by the students and the school community.”
“Swimming teaches students a lot really – discipline for a start. You also have to be organised to manage schoolwork and training commitments. And of course, there is the teamwork.
“Most students who come out of the swimming program have taken these important life skills through to their future careers,” Kevin says.
Well Kevin, this is our wish to you as we say “so long” but not farewell – it is a beautiful day and it’s great to be alive – enjoy the beautiful days of retirement and living the days to the absolute fullest.