Dick Shoulberg

Early coaching After his service in the army, he started work as a precision machinist, married his wife Molly around 1958, and eventually had four children, Steve, Rick, Becky and Bert. He had a long stint at the Mermaid Swim Club from 1958 to 1968, and coached at the Roxborough YMCA from 1968 to 1969.

Germantown Academy coach Shoulberg began coaching at Germantown Academy in 1969, and remained there through a 45-year career, retiring in 2015. According to one account, he got the job by applying to a classified ad. His teams at Germantown Academy twice captured the Men's National Prep School Championships in 1985 and 1986, and the Germantown women took five National Prep School Championships in 1986, 1987, 1992, 1994, 2004 and 2005. His Prep School teams have finished in the top eight at Senior National Championships. With exceptionally high winning records, since 1969 through around 1990, the winning percentage for his women's team has been 98% and his men's team around 82%. While coaching at GAAC, Shoulberg had two of his swimmers capture new World Records and more than eight of his swimmers set American records. A large number of the swimmers in his program have set a number of both High School and National Records.

Top swimmers His top swimmers have included Distance swimmer Fran Crippen, Whitney Jorgensen, a stroke and 200 IM specialist who swam for Boise State, and Alicia Aemisegger, a Princeton IM swimmer who swam the 400 IM in the 2008 Olympic Trials, twice made the Olympic trial finals, and would Assistant Coach at New York University. Shoulberg also coached Katie Riefenstahl, a six-time University of Texas All American, and Sierra Schmidt, a University of Michigan swimmer and 2016 World Cup Medalist in freestyle who swam for Shoulberg's Germantown Academy from 2012 to 2014 where she competed in the 1650 and 500 freestyle. At Plymouth Whitemarsh Aquatic Club, Shoulberg coached 2017-2019 Pan American Games and World Junior Swimming Championships six-time freestyle gold medalist Andrew Abruzzo. Shoulberg also coached Bill Smythe who was fourth in the 200-meter backstroke in the 1992 Olympic trials, and later coached Intermediate Medley and Distance swimming at the University of Virginia.

Olympians coached Olympians he has coached include Fran's sister Maddy Crippen (2000), who would later coach at Villanova, Alex Fung (2000), a backstroke and IM Olympic competitor for Hong Kong, Pathunyu "Guy" Yimsomruay (2000), Dave Wharton (1988, 1992), David Berkoff (1992), Sean Killion (1992), Karin LaBerge (1980), Dan Jorgenson (1988), Trina Radke (1988), Erika Hansen (1988), and Sue Heon (1984). David Berkoff, Dan Jorgensen, Sean Killian and Dave Wharton trained with Shoulberg at Germantown Academy Aquatics Club and Foxcatcher Swim Club for the 1992 swim season in preparation for the Olympics.

Since 1969 he has produced in excess of 300 Preparatory School and High School All-American swimming student-athletes from Germantown Academy and from his club team Germantown Academy Aquatic Club which use the Prep School's swimming facilities.

Honors In 2003, he was inducted into the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame, and in 2000 received the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association of America (NISCA) Hall of Fame Award. He was awarded the NISCA National Collegiate & Scholastic Swimming Trophy in 1996. In 1995, he was inducted into Germantown Academy Hall of Fame, and received the Coach of the Year Award from the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) in both 1982 and 1989. In 1987, he became a member of the Pennsylvania Aquatic Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame in 1986.