New swim coach at Lebanon Y jumps in

Roberts, his wife, Branden, 10-year-old son Sam and stepdaughter Hannah Breeden, 16, live in Deerfield Twp. “Originally, I lived in Northern Kentucky for all but two years of my life, where I lived in Chaska, Minnesota. We are very happy to be back in this area as a majority of our family lives within an hour of the YMCA. In Minnesota, it was a 13-hour drive to our closest relative.”

His parents, brothers and nephews live in Bright, Ind., and his in-laws live in northern Kentucky and Indianapolis. “Being within in an hour of them is so much better than being 13 hours away. We are a close family and spend a lot of time together.”

Robert’s journey with the YMCA began when he was a little kid in northern Kentucky. “(Later) I went on to work at the (Kenton County) YMCA as my first ever job at the age of 14 at the concession stand; and nearly 25 years later I find my way back to the YMCA family and couldn’t be happier.”

Coaching swimming for more than 20 years, Roberts career began as the head coach of the Kenton County YMCA Summer Team League. Then, he spent seven years as the Head Age Group coach. Ten years as head coach at the Northern Kentucky Clippers Swim Team included taking a locally competitive program in the Ohio LSC (a division of USA Swimming) to a nationally competitive program. The last two years, Roberts remade the Foxjets Swim Team in Minnesota into over 320 swimmers.

As for the Torpedo Swim Team, Roberts said, “Swimmers are anxious and some are coming into the pool on their own to swim some. Many of our seniors are starting their college visits. We are still getting some swimmers wanting to come in and try out for the team.

“The most impressive thing about the team is the family mentality. I felt very blessed to become part of the Torpedoes family instantly. I am also very excited to see the desire to work hard in training.

“The swimmers, parents and co-workers are great. In my two months, I have met with a lot of people on the upcoming season, and their energy is unbelievable.”

He said he is very fortunate to be walking into a program that has had so much success in the past.

Roberts said when their family are away from the pool they like to spend time together with the extended family as much as possible and they love the Cincinnati Bengals. “We also spend a lot of our free time going to our son’s basketball.”

The executive director of Countryside YMCA, Holly Colon, said the Countryside YMCA Torpedo Swim Team has ranked among the top 5 YMCA teams across the country. “Since Jason’s arrival, he and the coaching staff have been working relentlessly with the parent Boosters and Booster leadership to organize and communicate Jason’s leadership style, coaching philosophy and expectations with both parents and swimmers. Jason brings a high level of organization and communication to our program. Jason is very detail oriented and transparent in his communication. Our Torpedoes swimming families are very excited to see how their young swimmer athletes will perform under Jason’s coaching style.”