Get to Know Our Coaches: Joe Auer
Because the Blue Dolfins train at several locations—Cady Way, Winter Park High School, and our Oviedo branch—not every family gets the chance to know all of our coaches. So we’re launching a series of Coach Spotlights, taking a deeper look at the people behind our swimmers’ success.
We’re starting with Senior Head Coach and Winter Park Blue Dolfins team owner Joe Auer.
Growing Up a Blue Dolfin
Joe grew up right here in Winter Park. He swam for the Blue Dolfins, alongside the Blue Dolfins Oviedo head coach and owner, Charlie Rose. Together by age ten, the two had already begun breaking national records and this continued up through college, Charlie competing for Florida State University and Joe for the Florida Gators. There Joe swam for Randy Reese, who was one of the USA Olympic Team coaches for the 1980, ‘84, and ‘88 Olympics.
Joe’s Coaching Career
After college, Joe briefly coached for the Stingray Aquatics, Highlander Aquatics, and Longwood Aquatics, before landing back at the Blue Dolfins, coaching under the legendary Harry Meisel, the man who founded the Blue Dolfins back in 1972.
Joe says that swimming and working under a variety of coaches exposed him to very different coaching philosophies, helping him understand what works, what doesn’t, and how to motivate each swimmer to reach their potential.
Over the past 30 years, Joe has continued that education through coaching conferences, USA Swimming Select Camps, and other opportunities to learn the latest developments in stroke technique, nutrition, training, physiology, and sports psychology. Combined, those experiences have helped shape the coach he is today.
Since taking over as the head coach for the Winter Park branch of the Blue Dolfins, Joe has helped his swimmers achieve success:
Numerous Olympic Trial qualifiers (for the USA, UK, Brazil)
International competitors (US, UK,Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Poland, Solvakia, Italy, Germany, and Caribbean Islands)
National team members, USA Zone team members, USA National Select Camp members — for example, senior group swimmer Denzo Senekal has just been named to the Men’s National Junior Team for USA Swimming
National and State Record Holders, All American Swimmers, high school state champions
Collegiate swimmers (Div. 1, 2, and 3)
Joe’s Florida Swim Network Era
In addition to coaching, Joe is also known on social media as SwimmerJoe, thanks to Florida Swim Network, a sports media company he started with his wife Bess. Together they began livestreaming swim meets in 2010, long before it was common place and easy to do so.
They started with just one camera and a mic poolside, broadcasting age group meets, allowing parents and extended family from all over the world to watch young swimmers compete. With the help of team parents and consultants from Full Sail University, Florida Swim Network grew to have 6 cameras, two commentators, an 8-person crew, and even poolside interviews, which put them in demand at swim meets across the southeast.
Their largest broadcast had 270,000 unique viewers, which caught the attention of ESPN and the ACC and SEC Network, who hired them to be the broadcast crew for college swim meets for the SEC and ACC. This allowed Joe to interview and get to know some of the country’s fastest swimmers and their coaches.
In fact, at the 2016 Olympic Trials, when now 9-time Olympic swimmer Caeleb Dressel made his very first Olympic team, the staff member handling interviews for USA Swimming held off the other reporters to give Joe the very first interview with Caeleb because of their long time relationship. Take a look:
In addition to poolside interviews, Joe also sat as an anchor, hosting several seasons of OnDeck with Florida Swim Network, a television show covering high school swimming for Spectrum (formerly BrightHouse). Here’s Joe talking with Jon Sakovich, former Bolles Coach and current associate head coach at LSU.
It’s All About the Connections
Although the Florida Swim Network days are over, Joe values the time he spent talking with and interviewing the best swimmers and coaches in the nation. It gave him insight into different coaching styles and swim programs that have found long-term success.
Now when a Blue Dolfins swimmer wants to pursue collegiate swimming, Joe can give advice on which program would be a good fit for that particular swimmer. He also can make introductions to get the ball rolling on recruitment and then signing day.
30+ Years Coaching
After decades coaching on deck, Joe has watched hundreds of swimmers come through the sport—from beginners learning their first strokes to athletes competing at the highest levels. And while training methods, technology, and the pressures facing young athletes have changed, the basic formula for success hasn’t.
Show up. Put in the effort. Do it consistently.
Not every swimmer will have the same goals, the same natural physical talent, or even the same path through the sport. But Joe believes those habits give every single swimmer the opportunity to discover just how far they can go.
And that’s still his favorite part of the job: watching a swimmer realize they’re capable of more than they thought.
That’s when Joe knows he has found success as a coach.