From a young age, Gary Isherwood developed a passion for swimming.
He turned that passion into a successful college and high school coaching career in multiple states, with his last stop coming at John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, where he remained for more than two decades.
Isherwood, who was beloved by the John Bapst and the eastern Maine swimming community, died unexpectedly on March 19.
He was 59.
Isherwood was the swimming coach at John Bapst since the 1991-1992 season and, according to one of his peers, was always well-prepared and put his kids first.
“He came in with an awful lot of knowledge,” Old Town boys coach Dave Ploch said. “He worked with all levels [of swimmers]. He was someone who introduced kids to the sport.”
John Bapst athletic administrator Rick Sinclair noted that Isherwood was an outstanding coach to work with and will be sorely missed.
“He was a great mentor to the kids, he cared about all the kids,” Sinclair said. “He valued how they were as swimmers but also how they were as students and as a member of the community.”
Sinclair would not disclose the cause of Isherwood’s death, saying only that it was sudden.
“We hurt and our kids are shaken but our thoughts are all about his family,” Sinclair said. “It’s obviously a big loss for us and a big loss for our athletic department.”
Guidance and crisis counselors were made available to John Bapst students this week, Sinclair added.
Isherwood, who was named Class B Girls Swimming Coach of the Year in 2014, was respected among his peers, Ploch said.
“He was always a positive coach in the way he carried himself,” Ploch said. “You knew that Bapst would be a well-run program.”
“He was a great example of how you would like a coach to be,” Sinclair said, “very positive, always pushing the kids to get the most out of themselves.”
Isherwood also encouraged his students be successful in the classroom, and he coached multiple National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association Academic All Americans.
“We have a hallway full of All-American plaques from our swimmers from the NISCA,” Sinclair said.
According to an obituary in the BDN, Isherwood was born in North Adams, Massachusetts and attended Drury High School and later graduated from St. Bonaventure University in New York.
Before coming to Maine, Isherwood coached collegiate and high school teams in New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire and North Carolina.
In addition to his coaching work, Isherwood worked at Sandollar Spa and Pool and with Securitas in St. Joseph Hospital’s emergency room for over 20 years.
He also served as aquatics director of the Bangor YWCA from 1991-2000 and founded the Beach to Beach Swim for Breast Cancer in memory of his late mother, Mary.
A memorial service for Isherwood is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at John Bapst, 100 Broadway, in Bangor.
He is survived by his wife of 32 years, Deanne; a brother, Alan, of Massachusetts, and three children, Tyler, Corey and Meridith.
