GPS coach Woods honored

Girls Preparatory School swim coach John Woods will receive the Outstanding Service Award next month at the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association convention in Columbus, Ohio.

The award honors success as a coach and leadership at the local, state or national level. Woods is in his 18th year at GPS and is the general chairman of Southeastern Swimming after previously serving on the organization's board of directors.

A member can receive this NISCA honor only once, and his name will be on display at the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

"This honor is really special because of the people I am associated with," Woods said Wednesday. "There are high school coaches all over the nation who put in a full day as teachers and then spend time with swimming teams and swimming clubs. I'm just honored to be associated with those kind of people who put in time like that and do so much for their students.

"This wouldn't have been achieved without talented athletes and people who have been willing to do the work that's necessary."

Woods was named Southeastern Coach of the Year in 1994 and is a five-time Tennessee High School Coach of the Year. He has coached more than 50 All-Americans and six USA National Team members and has produced swimmers at every Olympic Trials since 1980, including four-time national champion breaststroker Annemieke McReynolds.

"I think it's a great honor and a great award, and he certainly deserves it with everything he's done at GPS, on the state level and with Southeastern Swimming," McCallie coach Stan Corcoran said. "He's done a lot these last 18 years."

Though Woods has yet to lead GPS to a state title, his Bruisers have been runners-up nine times. He is a graduate of Auburn University and was its women's head coach in 1976.