Freedom High School’s swim team will have a new head coach on the pool deck for the 2025-2026 season in James Apostolico, who is replacing Alexa Kutch.

“I have swum and coached at a variety of levels of swimming from five-year olds learning to swim, all the way up to district champions,” Apostolico wrote in a recent email. “Nothing beats high school swimming. Swimming is a very individualistic sport, but you’d never guess that if you attended a high school dual meet, or especially a meet like the District XI Championships.”

From 2018-2022, Apostolico coached as an assistant swim coach and head diving coach for Nazareth High School and ran the Blue Eagle Swim Club’s diving program and assisted with their top senior swim group.

Apostolico will have plenty of support at Freedom, including returning assistant coach Erin Wetmore.

“The team has grown in size over the last few years under Erin and former head coach, Alexa Kutch,” Apostolico said. “I wanted to keep the momentum that they started by retaining Erin and giving the upperclassmen some stability on the coaching staff. Erin has also impressed me with how well she supports the athletes and meshes with my idea of fostering athlete accountability and independence.”

The Patriots will also have three volunteer coaches.

“My wife Alyssa will be helping,” Apostolico said. “She worked with me at Nazareth and is excellent at one-on-one feedback. Sara Collins works with the Bethlehem Tides during the summer and already has a relationship with some of the kids on the team, and Avery LeTourneau, who recently graduated from Lafayette College and was a four-year swimmer at the Division 1 school.”

Topping off Freedom’s coaching staff will be returning diving coach Mark Parry.

“I am very thankful and excited that star coach Mark Parry will be returning to coach our returning district champions (Hayden Taylor and Cody Smith) as they chase state glory this year,” Apostolico said.

Apostolico swam for four years at Allentown Central Catholic High School and was captain his senior year as well as the scholar athlete.

Apostolico went on to swim for Penn State University’s club program and went to the Club National Championships in 2016.

“I grew up playing many different team sports but the closest teams I’ve ever been a part of were high school swim teams,” he said. “I wanted the opportunity to build that experience for the Freedom team - one I hope they can look back on fondly and proudly. I am already drawn to coaching because it allows me to help kids set and achieve their goals, doing so by teaching them how to be accountable and responsible for the things they care about. Getting that fulfillment while working in the backdrop of working in high school swimming was impossible to pass up.”