WMA Swimming Coach Dan Moran wins two national titles

Dan Moran was a great swimmer at the high school and collegiate levels.

The Wilbraham & Monson Academy Boys' and Girls' Swimming coach is apparently a great swimmer at the masters level as well.

Coach Moran, a Global Studies and AP World History teacher at WMA, won a pair of events and placed third in four other races in the 30-34 age group at the U.S. Masters Swimming Spring National Championship Meet in Greensboro, N.C., April 26-29.

“It was an inspiring environment and a great experience,” said Coach Moran, 30. “I am very happy with how I swam. I couldn't have asked for anything more.”

A native of Monson, Coach Moran set a pair of high school records before setting four more at Springfield College throughout his brilliant college career. He's stayed active in swimming since graduating from Springfield in 2006, competing at a meet at Harvard University the last three years with some friends from the Jewish Community Center in Springfield.

One of those friends mentioned how it would be neat to win an event at a national masters event. That comment “planted the seed” for Coach Moran, who, at the time, had some of the top times in the country in the 25-29 age group.

“I haven't taken a full year totally off, although I don't train as hard as I did in college,” Coach Moran said. “I can't commit as much time as I did training in college so I've been a quasi competitive recreational fitness swimmer for the last four years.

“At the end of the 2011 season, I decided to add another day to my training. My times were reasonably close to what I did in college in some of my off-events, so I decided since I would be turning 30 for the next season I would add another hour a week and do some other weight lifting and running to get into better shape, and if I was swimming fast enough I would spend the money and head down to the national championship to see how I would do there.”

Suffice it to say, it was worth the trip. Coach Moran won the 1,000-yard freestyle by eight seconds in nine minutes, 52.50 seconds, and took the 200 butterfly by nearly two seconds in 1:53.58, making him a two-time national champion.

“I knew I had a good chance, certainly in the 1,000. In the 200 fly I came in seeded third. In the 200 fly I knew I had gone fast enough to win in the past but I wasn't confident those six hours a week in the pool I was doing would equal the 20 hours a week I was putting in during college, and (winning) that surprised me.”

Coach Moran also placed third in the 500 free, 100 backstroke, 100 butterfly and 400 Individual Medley. He had such a great experience he's considering competing in a few years at the World National Championships, when the event will be held in Montreal.

“It was a motivational experience,” Coach Moran said. “The (time) cuts to get into the (national) meet are fairly reasonable so you see a big cross section of ability and talent. You see people who have had