[05/31/02]Brad Radford has swam in plenty of meets, on some of the biggest stages in the country. Even though he won’t swim a lap this weekend, he’s as nervous as ever.

The 24-year-old ex-Delta State standout finished eighth in the nation at the 2001 NCAA Division II championships in the 200-yard butterfly and now will make his debut as coach of the Vicksburg Swim Association’s Coke Racers at the 7th annual River City Classic at City Pool.

The meet starts today at noon with the 10-and-under age groups and continues Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m. City Pool will be closed to the public for swimming all three days, although spectators are welcome at the meet. Admission is free.

“I’m a little nervous, just because I’ve dealt with some meets as an assistant, not as a head coach,” said Radford, who also spent one season as a graduate assistant coach at Delta State. “But I’m confident in my swimmers and I think we’ll do very well.”

A native of The Woodlands, Texas, Radford began swimming when he was 5 years old. His path through the water led him to Delta State, where he reached the NCAA finals in 2001 in both the 200 butterfly and as part of the 200-yard freestyle relay team.

When it was time to get out of the pool, though, he couldn’t resist the smell of chlorine. After helping coach at DSU last year, he was hired by the VSA to coach their youngsters.

“I just enjoy swimming a whole lot, but I couldn’t keep swimming competitively,” Radford said. “I wanted to coach a variety of kids, not just college.”

Radford has only been on the job for about two weeks, and is still struggling with some parts of the job. Small things, really, like finding his own coaching style and figuring out who exactly he’s coaching.

“One little thing for sure is trying to get to know names,” Radford said with a laugh. “I imagine this meet is going to help me learn them.”

There will be plenty of faces to sort through. The Coke Racers will have about 40 swimmers in the meet, and nearly 400 swimmers from teams from Mississippi and Louisiana will compete.

The three-time defending meet champions won’t be bringing their usual share.

The New Orleans-based Elmwood Sharks, coached by Vicksburg native Carter Stamm, will only bring a handful of swimmers because of a conflict with school tests.

Meet director Steve English said Elmwood had only registered about 20 swimmers for the meet, a far lower number than the 60 or 70 they’ve brought the past few years. The low number of Sharks will make it difficult for them to accumulate points and should ensure a new meet champion.

“That probably put us down 60 or 70 swimmers,” English said. “(Elmwood) won’t win it this year because of the numbers … Last year they brought a ton of swimmers.”

Although there will likely be a new champion, Radford wasn’t sure the Coke Racers would be it their numbers and times aren’t as great as some other powerhouse teams from Jackson and Shreveport, La.

Still, the meet should give he and his team a chance to get their feet wet and learn what to expect from each other. If they’re lucky, both the coach and his swimmers might even uncover some hidden gems.

“I think it’ll just help me out as a little more experience,” Radford said of coaching the team. “You never know who you might come across. You learn a little more from every swimmer.”