Melissa Baer will be the Freedom Patriots’ new head swimming coach for the 2018-2019 season, replacing Coach Will Berisha.

Baer was the head swimming coach at Allentown Central Catholic High School, an assistant at Emmaus High School, and a coach, manager, site supervisor, and instructor at the Emmaus Aquatic Club.

“At this point, I am still working on developing a solid plan for the entire team,” Baer said. “However, I want to instill some values such as commitment, communication, and of course, sport-specific areas such as technique and building our program from top to bottom.”

Baer was a swimmer at Parkland High School and Clarion University, swimming the 200, 500, 1,000, and 1,650 freestyle, the 100 and 200 butterfly, and the 400 IM.

Baer is a member of Parkland’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

She was a nine-time District XI champion, and an eight-time PSAC champion.

Baer currently works at Nitschmann Middle School and is hoping to get a full-time teaching job in Bethlehem.