COACH JAMES ZENYUH
Cub Run Age Group Stroke Development Coach

Coach James grew up in central Pennsylvania.  He started swimming at the age of 7 with the Bloomsburg YMCA and swam both YMCA and USA Swimming through high school.   He got hooked on swimming when he won his first bronze medal at the 1983 league championships in the 25 backstroke wearing a nice pair of yellow swim trunks.  James won numerous Pennsylvania YMCA State Championships later in his age group career and held State records in both the butterfly and backstroke events. He was the first male swimmer from the Bloomsburg YMCA to win a national title at the 1995 spring YMCA National Championships, in the 200 backstroke.  

James continued his swimming career at Harvard University, where he won the Ivy League Championship in the 100 yard backstroke as well as multiple 1st team All-Ivy and Academic All-Ivy designations.  Over the course of his four years, Harvard went 4-0 in the Ivy League Championship Meet and placed 11th at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.  During the summers in college, James competed with the Mass Bay Marlins and FAST Swimming in California, attending US Swimming Long course National Championships each summer.  At the 1998 summer nationals, he had a chance to compete in an exhibition monofin competition.

Coach James continues to swim through US Masters Swimming.  He is a US Masters Swimming All-American and holds two USMS national records in the 50 yard butterfly and 50 meter butterfly.

Coach James got his coaching career started in college doing swim camps in the summer, then after college served as an assistant coach with the West Shore, Pa. YMCA for a few years before relocating to Virginia with his wife, Heidi in 2003.     James was a Senior Coach for Riptide for a few years before joining the Marlins coaching staff in 2018.  He is an ASCA Level 2 certified coach.