My name is Jason Schmidt and I have recently been appointed the new Head Swim Coach of Leander High School for the 2016-2017 school year. I am extremely excited about this opportunity. I am originally from Texas however my family and I have been overseas since 2007. I have been a swimming and multi-sport coach for many years now and it is a career that I am passionate about and I am eager to pass on my enthusiasm and drive to others. I have coached around the world, from Texas to Colorado, Grand Cayman Islands-BWI to Dubai-UAE, and now at Leander High School. My swimming career began in Houston, Texas where I took lessons in a backyard residential type swimming pool, I quickly took an interest in the sport of swimming and decided to participate in the local summer league or neighborhood program. I progressed well and quickly fell into the year-round swimming program and swam with Cy Fair Fleet. Thanks to many age group coaches, of mine, I continued to grow with the sport. I swam Varsity all four years at Jersey Village High School, was a Junior Captain and then my Senior year Head Captain. In college, I ended up swimming for two seasons at Metro State College of Denver, a Division II school, and then I transitioned into the sport of Triathlon. Over the years I have competed in many Sprint and Olympic Triathlon races as well as Half Ironman’s and ultimately completing the Ironman race in 2007. My coaching career has been very exciting as I have coached everything from novice or ‘Learn to Swim’, to ‘PE Curriculum Swimming’, as well as ‘Competitive Elite Squads’ and 'Triathletes'. These included neighborhood HOA’s, International Governments, British Curriculum and International schools, as well as owning and running my own businesses overseas. I am very excited to coach high school swimming and share my passion with you all this season.