The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) has announced the recipients of the 2024 Jean Freeman Scholarship. These scholarships are given annually to six coaches whose exceptional contributions have brought recognition to their college or university, and whose leadership, integrity, honesty, competitive attitude and personal graciousness epitomize those characteristics reflected by Jean Freeman, longtime women's swimming coach at the University of Minnesota. The Jean Freeman Scholarship provides each recipient with a grant that pays for registration and lodging at the 2024 CSCAA Annual Meetings in Indianapolis May 5-8. Additionally, these scholars will receive complementary airfare from the CSCAA partner, All Sports International.  

The 2024 honorees are Caesar Asadi (St. Thomas (FL)); Keaton Burke (Fairfield); Sydney Kanne (Willamette); James Singewald (TCNJ); Abigail String (Miami (FL)); and, Vanessa Williamson (Bates). These six recipients were selected by a committee composed of members of The Summit for Empowering Women in Swimming, of which Jean was a founding member. Since its establishment in 2012, the Freeman Scholarship has enabled many of the nation's top rising assistant coaches to rub elbows with the country's top coaches. Two-thirds of all recipients earned a promotion within one year of being selected for this scholarship, and nearly half of all recipients have gone on to become head coaches.

Caesar Asadi is wrapping up his second season as the head swim coach. Asadi is only the second coach in program history and has expanded the program from nine swimmers to forty-eight in just one year. As a result, the Bobcats have pounced into the NAIA national rankings. Asadi’s has also helped Inigo Marina win the first NAIA National Title in School History (200 Breaststroke), led the men’s team to a fourth-place finish at the 2022 NAIA National Championships and produced eleven NAIA All-Americans.

“Caesar has done a tremendous job of building our swimming programs in a very short time.  He continues to recruit and develop great student-athletes in and out of the pool.  The accountability and inclusiveness with which he has built our program has set a great example for our department. I am appreciative that Caesar has been selected for the Freeman Scholarship because it recognizes the great work that we witness every day.”

Bill Rychel, Athletic Director, St. Thomas University (FL)

Keaton Burke is completing his first season as an assistant coach at Fairfield University. Prior to Fairfield, Burke served as an assistant coach at Notre Dame. While in South Bend, the Fighting Irish set nine school records and sent eight student-athletes to the NCAA Championships. Burke’s first collegiate coaching experience came as a volunteer with his alma mater, Salisbury University, after he graduated in 2019 with a B.A. in Communications.

I am so excited for Keaton to earn this prestigious award! He is a student of the sport and his passion for swimming is felt by everyone around him. Keaton makes our student-athletes feel supported, respected, and valued, and he has been instrumental in helping the team through a leadership transition this year. I am grateful for his partnership, and I am proud of Keaton for living out Jean Freeman’s values everyday.

Jacy Dyer, Head Men’s & Women’s Swim Coach, Fairfield University

Sydney Kanne just finished her first season as the Willamette assistant swim coach. Prior to joining the college coaching world, Kanne served as the head swim coach at South Pasadena High School for three years. Kanne also spent time coaching at the Gerrish Swim and Tennis Club as well as the South Pasadena Sea Tigers Swim Club. A former Division III swimmer, Kanne graduated from Whittier College in 2017 with double-major degrees in Psychology and Political Science.

“Sydney has had a tremendous impact on our program and has made us better in all facets. I appreciate her commitment to being the best version of herself so she can help our students become the best versions of themselves. This is a well deserved honor for Sydney, and I'm excited she'll have this opportunity to continue to learn, develop and become an even better coach-mentor.”

Brent Summers, Head Men’s & Women’s Swim Coach, Willamette University

James Singewald is a native of Succasunna, New Jersey and began his coaching career in high school, serving as an assistant coach at several club and YMCA teams, including Red Hawks Swim Club, Roxbury Township and Randolph YMCA. Singewald went on to attend Montclair State University where he majored in Exercise Science with a concentration in Sports Conditioning and minored in Sports Coaching. As a student-athlete, Singewald specialized in backstroke and IM and helped Montclair State place sixth at the Metropolitan Championships in 2019. Singewald has been with TCNJ for two seasons and helped two swimmers reach NCAA's in his first year, one of whom earned a top three finish.

James' influence as part of our coaching staff is reflected in all areas of our program. He takes the time to develop personal relations with athletes, recruits and other staff members at TCNJ. He has a very calming and fun way of getting people to refocus and make everything relatable. Coaching comes naturally to James, and athletes respond well to him. He has a good sense of who he wants to be as a coach and is always striving to be better. I am excited that he is being honored with the Jean Freeman scholarship. He truly represents what the scholarship is all about, and this experience will help him on his journey towards becoming an amazing head coach someday.

Jennifer Harnett, Head Women’s Swim Coach, TCNJ

Abigail String attended Florida Atlantic University and graduated in 2021 with a school record, a Team MVP Award and a degree in Civil Engineering. After spending almost two years as a full-time engineer, String decided to dive into coaching at all levels. String began as a swim lesson instructor and technique coach for the Sunsational Swim School before joining the University of Miami staff as a volunteer coach.

Abby is passionate about investing in people, teams, and the sport of swimming. She cares about and connects with the people around her, and she has a gift for doing it naturally. She is driven to learn about all aspects of coaching, and in my opinion is a perfect recipient of a scholarship honoring Jean Freeman.

Andy Kershaw, Head Women’s Swim Coach, University of Miami (FL)

Vanessa Williamson graduated from Bates in 2005 as an eight-time All-American in the butterfly and individual medley events. Williamson went on to compete post-collegiately, and she credits the experience of training under Olympic coaches and alongside Olympic hopefuls as the inspiration for becoming a coach. In 2012, Williamson joined the coaching staff at her alma mater after coaching at the high school and club levels for five years. In April 2016, Vanessa Williamson was promoted to associate head coach at Bates after serving as an assistant coach the four years prior.

Vanessa's time at Bates has corresponded with our best seasons to date, and that is no coincidence.  Her work on the pool deck with our athletes and in the office recruiting, planning, and fundraising has helped create a program that positively impacts each student-athlete.  Vanessa brings creativity and connection to our profession.  Always coming up with new ways to get the most out of our athletes, while being a steady and consistent mentor and coach, Vanessa has contributed to the success of her swimmers, our coaching staff, and her colleagues in the athletic department.  I am grateful to work alongside Vanessa everyday, and I am thankful that she has given back to her alma mater in such a powerful way.

Peter Casares, Head Men’s & Women’s Swim Coach, Bates College