Notre Dame Prep’s Terri Byrd named IAAM Swimming Coach of the Year
By Nelson Coffin
nelson@iaamsports.com
When the Notre Dame Prep swimming team shows up for a meet, the one thing its opponents learn quickly is that the Blazers mean business.
They may not win every meet, but giving less than their best effort is something that rarely happens under the IAAM Coach of the Year Terri Byrd.
Her stamp on her team is all-encompassing
“NDP is always well prepared,” McDonogh coach Scott Ward said in a 2021 profile of Byrd for being named the Coach of the Decade by the Varsity Sports Network. “Her teams are clearly ready to swim, and they have such a tremendous spirit. That’s what makes high school swimming so much fun. She’s someone who connects with her kids — and her kids really respond to her.”
According to NDP athletic director Steve Powers, Byrd’s many contributions to the program go beyond helping Blazer swimmers tweak their backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle and butterfly — although she does that, too.
“Terri Byrd has guided her athletes to success in swimming and in life by instilling in them the values of honesty, integrity, a positive attitude, competitiveness, and a love of swimming for the past 15 years at Notre Dame,” he said. “(Byrd) is a coach who leads by example and consistently demonstrates a dedication to lifelong learning and continuous improvement.”
He added that Byrd is an advocate for her swimmers and the viability of the league.
“She invests more than just her time into the development of her swimmers,” Powers said.. She cares deeply about not just her team and her Blazer swimmers but, more importantly, the sustainability of swimming in the IAAM.”
He said that Byrd has built numerous relationships throughout the league.
“She easily develops and fosters relationships with other coaches, her student-athletes and parents,” Powers continued. “She has helped other schools find practice times through her contacts/network and shares our pool with two other schools.”
Byrd, he said, is a caring mentor who gets the most out of her swimmers.
“Terri is one of the few coaches I know that achieves the perfect balance of teaching, technical, sportsmanship, and teamwork while fostering a true love for the sport,” he said about Byrd, whose Blazers were runners-up in both the A Conference and the National Catholics this winter.
She has been running the NDP program since 2006, winning six A Conference and seven National Catholic championships during that span.
In addition to the VSN award, Byrd has three National Catholic Coach of the Year awards, yet, “when the spotlight is on her, Terri is always quick to redirect it on her students, ensuring they receive credit for their hard work and accomplishments,” according to the school’s website.
It was also noted on that website that the Blazers are “annually recognized as scholar athletes by the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) Academic All-American program, and over the years she and her swimmers have volunteered at area non-profits in the off season.”
One of a trio of VSN Swimmers of the Decade, Kendall Krumenacker, said that she learned a pivotal lesson from Byrd during her sophomore year at NDP when she was exhorted by her coach to take on even more responsibility as a budding star.
“I was being stubborn, and Miss Byrd sat me down one day and told me I could do more (for the team),” Krumenacker recalled, noting that the moment was pivotal in her high school career.