Spreadsheets, Swim Strokes and Success: Inside Modzelewski’s Coaching Style

Dave Modzelewski never planned on becoming a swim coach. But in 2011, when a friend suggested applying for coaching jobs, the former University of Connecticut club swimmer found himself back on deck for the first time since college. 

“I fell in love with watching kids improve, learn and be safe around the water,” Modzelewski said. “Coaching combined my love of sports and my love of teaching.” 

That unexpected twist set him on a path that would eventually lead to Paris 2024 and now to Singapore, where he will serve as head coach of Team USA at the 2025 World Para Swimming Championships. 

Modzelewski grew up in Connecticut and has been around a pool since age 8. Like many young swimmers, he spent summers lifeguarding and teaching lessons. Coaching, though, became his calling. He worked his way up through YMCA programs, developmental squads and high school teams, producing multiple state champions and All-Americans along the way. 

By 2021 he was on the North Shore of Massachusetts, joining the YMCA Sharks program in Beverly. A self-professed Yankees fan, he jokes that living just 30 minutes from Boston has been “a hard move,” but the right one. 

That move also set the stage for a partnership with Paralympic champion Leanne Smith. After training at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, through the Tokyo Games, Smith returned home to Massachusetts. She needed a coach, and she had noticed Modzelewski’s calm, analytical style on deck.

“The YMCA has been extremely supportive,” Modzelewski said. “They’ve supported us both in this endeavor of Para swimming.”

Smith and Modzelewski clicked instantly. Close in age, their relationship balances professionalism and friendship. Together they’ve reimagined training and technique, especially as Smith’s disability has evolved. At one point she shifted from being able to recover both arms in freestyle to only one.

“How do you reimagine freestyle?” Modzelewski said. “How do you get creative and go faster?”

Their shared love of spreadsheets and data keeps the partnership focused. “We track everything,” he said. “It keeps her motivated and keeps me on track.”

His first Para swim meet came in 2022 at the Para Swimming World Series in Indianapolis. The atmosphere was quieter than he expected—no coaches pacing the deck shouting, no roaring crowds—because officials wanted to avoid giving unfair advantages to athletes with sensory or visual disabilities.

But two years later in Paris, everything changed. The Paralympic Games delivered an atmosphere unlike anything Modzelewski had ever felt.

“The energy in that place transferred from fans to athletes to staff,” he said. “Back in the warmup pool we could feel the vibrations through the ground as the crowd went nuts.”

Walking Smith out for her first race in Paris, Modzelewski’s heart raced. “All I could think was, ‘Don’t trip; don’t drop her; don’t mess up!’” he said, laughing.

Modzelewski describes himself as mathematical and scientific, an approach that meshes well with Smith’s data-driven mentality. But he also believes in staying even-keeled.

“Watching Coach Mike Krzyzewski growing up, I realized athletes will reflect the coach,” he said. “If I’m stressed, they’ll be stressed. If I’m relaxed, they’ll be relaxed.”

He prides himself on being creative, willing to return to the drawing board, and celebrating shared success. “Everyone’s success was everyone’s success,” he said. “As coaches we celebrated every swimmer’s success like it was our own.”

When U.S. Paralympics Swimming named him head coach for the 2025 world championships, Modzelewski was stunned. “Any coach could have been the head coach, but I was still shocked to learn it was going to be me,” he said.

Now, with a new Paralympic cycle underway, he sees an opportunity to help set the tone for the years ahead. “We’re all on Team USA. We’ve done this before and we’re the best of the best, and we’re going to show the world,” he said.

These days Modzelewski balances international coaching with his YMCA responsibilities in Beverly, where he lives with his rescue dog, Penny. And yes, he still gets grief for being a Yankees fan in Red Sox country.

But if his coaching journey proves anything, it’s that unexpected turns can lead to remarkable places. From lifeguard stands to the bright lights of Paris, Modzelewski has built a career defined by curiosity, creativity and the trust of the athletes he serves.

“The trust of the athletes is a great honor,” he said. “What they want to accomplish, I want to accomplish. I’m happy to play a role in helping them get there.”