by bill speltz
photos by kurt wilson

In the first rays of the day, Missoula Aquatic Club swimming coach Dave Berkoff, right, talks with team members before practice begins. Berkoff, with his stopwatch constantly at hand, watches swimmers as they make early morning laps.

It’s a glorious sun-soaked morning at Splash Montana and Dave Berkoff is at his usual poolside post, pacing occasionally while his protégés peer in his direction.

Berkoff is sporting a plain baseball cap and a pair of flip-flops you’d find for a dollar at Old Navy. There’s nothing about his attire or demeanor to indicate the guy is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, a former world record holder, a Harvard grad or a member of a thriving local law practice.

He just looks like a swimming coach. A mild-mannered one at that.

What you don’t see is the believer inside Berkoff. The one who knows from experience almost anything is possible in a pool with the right work ethic and attitude.

Granted, this believer has mellowed a bit. Tempered his expectations, if you will. Tailored them in a town where swimming ranks well down a list of sports interests that includes Montana Griz football, skiing, kayaking, tennis, soccer ... heck, even lacrosse and rugby are making major runs now.

The cutthroat days of Berkoff’s competitive swimming career, which started way back when he was a kid in suburban Philadelphia, are a speck in his rearview mirror. Yet the inner confidence remains. It reveals itself in his spoken belief that Missoula, Montana, can produce national-level swim competitors with the right compass.

Berkoff has made significant sacrifices to that end. Five years ago, he cut back on time spent practicing law so he could devote more to coaching for the Missoula Aquatic Club. These days he puts in 20 to 25 hours a week mentoring swimmers, wedging it in between his profession and 500 hours a year spent on multiple USA Swimming committees.

“Thankfully my partners at Garlington, Lohn and Robinson are somewhat generous and okay with it to some extent,” Berkoff said. “Obviously they’d like me to bring in more revenue to the firm, but I think they understand this is something that benefits the community and builds young lives.”

Berkoff has been a MAC swim coach on and off since moving to his wife Shirley’s hometown of Missoula in 1992. He got back into it by accident in 2007 and found he enjoyed it more than ever.

Then two years ago came a key juncture when he had a heart-to-heart with his most serious swimmers.

“At that point, we only had one kid who had made the Junior National level, which is about two levels down from Olympic Trials,” he said. “I sat down with the whole senior group.

There’s about 30 of them and they range in talent and ability from making state-qualifying times to junior national level.

“I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we took a bunch of MAC swimmers to Olympic Trials? Why don’t we set a team goal of four MAC swimmers going to Olympic Trials in 2012?’ Surprisingly, everybody in the group said it was a great idea, most of them knowing they didn’t have a chance in hell of making it.”

That meeting was the impetus for Berkoff making a more serious committment to coaching. His senior program has made major strides, with five swimmers headed to Winter Nationals in December.

“I’d say legitimately we have three or four kids who have a real good shot at making Olympic Trials by next year,” Berkoff said. “You’re in the top 1 percent of swimmers in the world if you’re making U.S. Olympic Trial qualifying times. They’re very fast.

“To have kids at that level from Missoula is pretty amazing. I think the MAC has only had one other Olympic Trial qualifier in the last 20 years and that’s David Cromwell 10 years ago. We’re kind of breaking new territory and it’s fun.”

Berkoff understands what it takes to be successful at the highest level, but he’d be the first to admit it requires something different to be an effective youth swim coach in Missoula. His maturation process as a father and swim mentor has been crucial to his newfound enjoyment and success with a whistle around his neck.

“With age comes perspective and maybe a little more appreciation,” the 44-year-old said. “I think I was frustrated early on in my coaching because I achieved personally a real high level and I was very serious about swimming. Probably more serious than 99.9 percent of the people about something.”

“I like to equate coaching with farming,” says Berkoff, a three-time Olympic gold medalist. “Put seeds in the ground in the spring, and then hope there’s good rain and enough sunshine and then at the end of the season see what you’ve got.”

It used to be a source of frustration for Berkoff when his swimmers didn’t share his level of passion. Then about a year ago he came to the realization he does and maybe always will care more about swimming than any of the swimmers he coaches.

“While that was somewhat of a depressing thought, on the other hand I thought, ‘No, that’s absolutely necessary if you want to be a good coach,’ ” he related. “You have to care more than the athletes because you’re setting the bar. They know where the limit is. If you don’t care more then you’re not going to see the best out of those kids.

“In some respects I guess I let go of that frustration and said, ‘It’s OK that I care more. It’s OK these kids are going to be kids and be distracted a million different ways and I just have to deal with that and be okay with it.’ That has led to me enjoying coaching a lot more, just letting go of the high expectations when I need to.”

Berkoff compares his level of obsession as an Olympic swimmer to that of his border collie and its obsession for playing ball. Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s when he was stockpiling six medals in the backstroke, it took every ounce of physical and mental energy he had to fend off the competition.

As a coach he’s learned to live with the fact there are varying levels of committment. Dealing with kids on an individual basis, and with parents who want the best for their kids, is his ultimate coaching challenge.

“I like to equate coaching with farming,” he said. “Put seeds in the ground in the spring and then hope there’s good rain and enough sunshine and then at the end of the season see what you’ve got.

“I try as best as I can to include everybody. At times, I think kids and parents think I favor one group over the other. It’s hard to balance the social issues, the conflict issues teenagers go through, trying to please all the parents and kids, trying to coach each individual a little differently. I try to learn every season, see what worked and didn’t.”
Being the father of two children has helped Berkoff fine-tune his communication skills with kids. But it’s still a work in progress.

“I have to get into the mind of a 16-year-old and see what issues are creeping up,” he said. “There’s a lot more to coaching than I ever thought and part of learning how to do the psychological and social part is the most challenging.”

While he pours his heart into coaching, Berkoff calls himself “the quintessential clueless swim parent.” He says his 10-year-old daughter is “totally self-motivated.” Her younger brother is more low-key when it comes to swimming.

“I want to be a dad to them and a swim coach to the swimmers I coach and not confuse them,” he said. “Eventually when my kids move up to my group I’ll have to readjust that and be more of a coach when they’re at the pool. But I’ve seen a lot of situations where parents coach their kids and it can be very unhealthy.”

Berkoff could coach swimming in a lot of different places for a lot of prestigious programs. That’s a given. He favors his current situation because it’s kids and it’s Montana.

“I wouldn’t say I dislike people, but I dislike big cities,” he said. “I think it’s an unhealthy way to live.

“When I first moved here I wanted to get my master’s degree and move on. Then I met my wife and she’s from Missoula. I said maybe I have to live here, went to law school, got a good job and it fell into place. I love it here. Every time I fly home to Missoula, I feel like I’m going to the best place in the world.”

He’s doing his best to make Missoula better with his passion for swimming. A passion that has made life richer for a lot of kids.

Three of his former MAC swimmers are members of Pac-10 swimming programs. Even more are or will be swimming collegiately.

Stay tuned for even bigger and better things to come.

“The most satisfying part is watching kids achieve something they didn’t think they could do, whatever level it may be,” Berkoff said. “The other thing is watching kids graduate from a program and go on to swim in college. To me that’s the most meaningful part. It opens another doorway for them.”

Bill Speltz is a sportswriter for the Missoulian. He can be reached at (406) 523-5255 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Kurt Wilson is photography editor for the Missoulian. He can be reached at (406) 523-5244 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .