Chapman Athletics selects Jason Willman as first full-time assistant swimming and diving coach for new athletic year

The Chapman alumnus hopes to build a new legacy during his new tenure at the university. Photo courtesy of Jason Willman

Jason Willman was recently hired in 2022 as Chapman’s first full-time assistant swimming and diving coach for the athletic year, where he hopes to help build a new legacy for the team and continue representing his alma mater.

The Panther sat down with Willman to talk about the team’s upcoming athletic year and what he has learned so far in his new position at Chapman.

Willman first began his swimming career in high school, when he decided to try out the sport for the first time. However, compared to his peers who had been swimming for much longer, Willman doubted himself, questioning if swimming “was even going to work out.”  

Willman’s club coach, Jodi Lepp, showed him that he was capable of anything that he put his mind to and he hopes to have that transcend throughout his coaching career.

“She really invigorated my passion for the sport,” said Willman. 

Following his graduation from Chapman, Willman spent almost two months coaching club teams around the U.S., which included the Golden West Swim Club in California and the University of Texas at Austin Longhorns summer camp for swimming and diving. 

After gaining further coaching experience, Chapman’s head coach of the swimming and diving team Juliet Suess, reached out to Willman for the 2022-2023 season. Although the paid full-time position was already filled, the opportunity for Willman to volunteer was brought up.

Without hesitation, Willman knew that being a part of this team — regardless of the position he held — was the next step he wanted to take in his career. 

“I felt like it was a fresh start for the program and decided to give it a shot,” Willman said. “I fell in love with the team when I was on campus. I loved my time here. I loved the people I was surrounded with. The facilities are amazing, the school is great, and I always knew this program had such a high ceiling in what we could accomplish. We were just underachieving for so long, and that's something my teammates and I always talked about.”

Willman especially expressed his excitement for the new incentives being implemented and the goals that he has for the swimming and diving team this year. 

One of Willman's goals for this upcoming season is to create deeper connections among the athletes on the team. To do so, he's relying on positive changes in athletes' characters and personalities, which starts with him as their coach.

“We do everything with energy, enthusiasm and positivity, and we recognize our energy is very infectious as a coach,” Willman said. “So, we want that to trickle down to our athletes as well to build a competitive, positive, supportive environment and win with class and dignity.”

Willman also shared some new initiatives to the swim team's athletic approach this season. 

“We are really looking to, in terms of what we are going to implement in practice, we're going to start utilizing underwater kicks a lot,” Willman told The Panther.

As Willman is describing the rules and regulations of how underwater kicks should be performed and trained, his second nature comes to face as he subconsciously shows me with his arms how swimmers should be diving into the pool correctly. 

“When you compete in college, we swim short ways, and there is a mark that is 15 meters off the wall that you're allowed to swim underwater and dolphin kick to off the wall. Not everybody does it because it's very difficult. But we're seeing huge strides in that kick because you have so little resistance, and you’re in such a small ball coming off the wall that you move very fast."

Willman hopes to continue to approach his coaching with the same amount of passion and excitement as he did as a volunteer coach. 

“I was just getting my feet wet last year, pun intended,” Willman said. 

Willman also told The Panther that he feels as though his confidence has improved greatly this year. Last year, he had acknowledged how unsure he felt training the team, but since then, he has been working on self-improvement to grow as a coach. 

The support and encouragement from the athletes and staff has helped ease Willman into his new role. 

“In terms of our philosophy, it is really big for us that everything we do has to be done with intention, so we have to look at every yard we do, everything we do in the weight room and be able to look back at that and say, ‘How is this going to help us get better?’” Willman said.

With keeping the team’s philosophy in mind, Willman is sure the swimming and diving team will continue to claim great success and reach significant strides during the 2023-2024 season.

“It's not going to happen overnight, but as long as we keep doing what we’re doing and showing up with energy, passion and enthusiasm every day and consistency, I know we are all going to do great things,” Willman said.