Recognizing the coach or coaching staff that has best prepared their athlete(s) and/or team.
Originally established in 1988 as the Coach of the Year Award. The Coach of the Meet recognizes the coach/coaching staff that has prepared their athlete(s) and/or team for extraordinary performances at these Championships. The Award is determined by a vote of coaching peers at the meet based on results through preliminaries of the fourth day of the meet. Consideration criteria includes significant improvement from previous years, sustaining exceptional results from year to year and record setting efforts.
Following the untimely death of Coach Larry Lyons, a highly regarded and dedicated swimming coach of the M.E. Lyons Branch YMCA in Cincinnati, Ohio and the only two-time winner of this award to date, the award was renamed in his honor. The renamed Larry Lyons Coach of the Year award was presented at the 1996 YMCA Short Course National Championship Meet in Orlando, Florida.
Beginning in 2002, the Coaches Award was renamed the Larry Lyons Coach of the Meet Award to recognize outstanding athlete, and team performance at the YMCA Short Course National Championships.
