St. Thomas swimming and diving coach Scott Blanchard resigned on Jan. 23, one month before the Summit League Championships.

Blanchard cited family obligations as his reason for stepping down. He said the increased time demand of coaching Division I athletics resulted in him making a choice between coaching and spending needed time with his family.

“Some things as we kind of went through the season was that I was just realizing that my head was at home trying to be with my family,” Blanchard said. “And when I was home, my head was here, trying to make sure I took care of stuff for the team.”

The Summit League Championships began Wednesday, Feb. 21 without the leadership of Blanchard.

Assistant coach Katy Vandam will serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season and Blanchard has confidence she will do well.

“She’s very smart and very organized and very driven, so she’s going to do a fantastic job,” Blanchard said.

When St. Thomas first transitioned to Division I, Blanchard said he didn’t hesitate to take on that challenge.

“I knew for sure there was going to be a little bit bigger time commitments, a little bit higher pressure, expectation levels, but I didn’t really kind of think twice about sticking with it,” Blanchard said.

After 13 years coaching at St. Thomas, and nine full seasons as head coach, Blanchard has a lot of achievements to feel proud of. During his tenure, he coached the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams to a combined eight MIAC titles and a three-peat of MIAC coach of the year from 2015-2017.

Outside of the pool, Blanchard wanted to draw attention to the athletes making a difference in other aspects of the St. Thomas community. He estimates that the team will have completed 200 volunteer hours through the end of the current season. Blanchard finds pride in the student-athletes’ continued academic excellence as well.

“We’ve been Academic All-Americans as a team every year that I’ve been a head coach,” Blanchard said. “Those things, I think, sometimes get overlooked because they just look at, you know, what’s driving the revenue and what buildings are going up.”

After resigning, Blanchard continued his role as Director of Aquatics and Anderson Pool through Feb. 6. On his last day at St. Thomas, he described the moment as “bittersweet.”

“I have really enjoyed my time here at St. Thomas. I love the institution, I love what it stands for, I love the student-athletes that I get to work with,” Blanchard said. “And so you know, it’s tough saying goodbye to those things. And at the same time, it’s extremely gratifying getting to know that I’m going to be able to be a bigger part of my family.”

Blanchard says that the athletes on the swimming and diving team have supported him through this decision.

“The part that they all understand was that the decision was a personal one, and I’ve received a lot of support from them for making sure that I take care of my family and so that’s been great,” Blanchard said.

Blanchard received support from university administration as well.

“I want to thank Coach Blanchard for his time with St. Thomas,” Director of Athletics Dr. Phil Esten wrote in a press release. “Scott had a positive effect and influence on the lives of student-athletes and the Tommie community. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

Blanchard has that same attitude towards the athletes, who are competing in the Summit League Championships at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center at the University of Minnesota from Feb. 21-24.

“It’s an extremely close team. They’re going to take care of each other and they’re going to finish strong for sure,” Blanchard said.

Blanchard added that just because he is resigning as coach, does not mean he is done cheering for the Tommies.

“You’re not going to be able to keep me away. I’ll be at most of the home meets next year for sure,” Blanchard said.

A student-athlete was not immediately available for comment.

Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.