After 36 years of coaching the Conestoga girls’ swim and dive team, Robert Kirkby retired this April. Kirkby was a guidance counselor at TEMS before he retired last year and has worked with the swim team to earn several Central League titles, including a 10-year streak from 2015 to 2025. Before coaching at Conestoga, Kirkby coached at West Chester University and the Waynesborough Country Club.
“I have been thinking about retiring from coaching for a while, but I was never ready to give it up,” Kirkby wrote in an email. “I really enjoy the interactions with the team and they have always made it easy to keep coaching.”
Junior Joyce Chen has been on the team since freshman year, and when she initially learned of Kirkby’s retirement, she was disappointed that he would not be able to coach her throughout the rest of her high school career. Reflecting on the time she spent with Kirkby, Chen feels that Kirkby’s ability to understand and communicate with each swimmer was helpful in his coaching.
“I think (Kirkby’s) biggest (strength is) his flexibility. He’s always been able to make an accommodation for me and a bunch of other swimmers,” Chen said. “If we can’t attend the practices (or) the meets, he’s super understanding, but he’s just a very well-rounded coach.”
Chen feels that Kirkby supported her and her teammates throughout the regular season and led them through meets. As a coach, Kirkby adjusted to each swimmer’s conditions accordingly, making sure that each team member could compete to the best of her abilities and aim for success. Sophomore and team member Sophie Norris feels that Kirkby’s retirement will be a big change for the team.
“I was going into my freshman year, and I didn’t have a specific event that I felt (best) at,” Norris said. “I did well enough and liked (distance events) enough that he said ‘this is going to be your thing,’ and him doing that actually helped me in (choosing events). Now I swim distance events almost every meet I go to.”
According to both Chen and Norris, Kirkby’s ability to connect with swimmers was one of his greatest strengths. Assistant coach and chemistry teacher Leah Roberts coached alongside Kirkby for about 12 years and feels that she learned from him.
“He had this incredible stretch where for 20 years the team had won the Central League (championship) for 19 of the 20 years, so he built this program into a powerhouse,” Roberts said. “Then impressing that legacy (onto me) as both a friend and a mentor, he has certainly made an impact on me.”
Following the boys’ coach’s retirement two years ago, the team went through a significant change in leadership and the girls’ team will see a similar transition between coaches in the upcoming season. As Kirkby’s leadership has guided the girls’ swim and dive team, he is excited to see what it will do in the future.
“I have been privileged to work with amazing student athletes for many years. Their love of swimming and dedication to the team has inspired me to keep coaching,” Kirkby said. “I will miss the daily interactions, the small things (and) seeing swimmers achieve their goals when they didn’t think it was possible.”
Anvita Mohile can be reached at [email protected].
