Marc Urmston, Liberty’s swim coach for 21 years, is retiring on a high note. Two weeks ago, Coach Urmston took an all-time record number of 14 Liberty swimmers to the state competition where after a season of breaking league records, the girls medley made it to the finals where they finished 11th. Sophia Munoz -Rodriguez finished 9th in the 200 IM and 6th in the butterfly. Jacob Zimmerman finished 18th in the state in the 50 freestyle
Coach Urmston goes out with a remarkable record. His career record for the girls team was 199-6 and boys was 196-9. His swimmers won 16 league titles for girls and 12 league titles for boys. The Liberty varsity girls have not lost a dual meet since 2014 and the boys since 2019.
Coach Urmston, who is a teacher in the Kern High School District ABLE program, the Special Education Adult Transition Program for students with moderate to severe disabilities between the ages of 18-22, will teach one more year and retire after 34 years in the district.
He is retiring as the swim coach in order to spend more time with his wife, Linda, and his 20 grandchildren, most of whom live in Utah.
“I’ve been coaching since I was 18,” Coach Urmston said. “I told my wife it’s time to give her back some time.”
Coaching swimming -- or being a high school swimmer -- takes an enormous amount of time. Liberty’s students swim at the McMurtrey Aquatic Center in downtown Bakersfield from 5:30-7:30 p.m., and typically the swimmers and their coaches don’t get home until 8:30 p.m.
“I’m always so amazed how they can be a good athlete and carry a 4.0,” Coach Urmston said of his swimmers. “I always tell other coaches that the best kids on campus are swimmers.”
Coach Urmston coached five of his seven children who attended Liberty: Courtney, Jordan, Mason, Logan, and Melanie and gradson, Tristen Panero who is currently a junior at Liberty. His two oldest children, graduated from Centennial High School before Liberty opened in 1999. Urmston's second oldest,Candice, coached with him for three years.
“It was a pleasure to be able to coach at Liberty,” he said. “It felt like home to coach at Liberty.”
Liberty State Meet Qualifiers