SWIM COACH JIM PIGNATO HAPPY TO GIVE BACK
BY STEVE SHEPPARD
He was there at the beginning, and he still holds some records from those early days. But for Jim Pignato today, satisfaction now comes from helping others reach their potential.

Jim Pignato serves triple duty as the island's aquatics director, youth swim coach and high school coach.

"I've taken my own name off the board a couple of times," the Nantucket High School and Dolphins swim coach said, while noting that he doesn't mind it when he does - it only means Nantucket's swim program has grown since he reluctantly joined the island's first swimming team in 1991.

"Over time I fell in love with it," he says of the sport that has taken its place among island athletics.

Pignato is in his second year of being the island's aquatic director and coach of Nantucket's two swim teams, and is the first person to take on all three jobs. If there were any questions in 1991 as to whether swimming would succeed on Nantucket, Pignato is proof that swimming and island living are a natural fit, as he imparts what he's learned to the island's next generation of swimmers.

An original member of the youth swimming team, the Dolphins, Pignato grew up with the sport and was on the very first high school swim team. He credits coach Dave Webb with getting the program off the ground, shaping it and giving it an identity. Pignato's success in the sport was such that in his senior year he was named team captain; when he graduated in 1998, he chose to attend Bentley College, in large part because Bentley had a strong swimming program and a highly recognized swim team. In his junior year at the college, Bentley won the New England championships. Although he captained the team in his senior year, just as he had on Nantucket, Pignato figured his swimming days were over and that his future would be tied to the marketing degree he had earned at Bentley.

He came home for the summer, and that September the position of assistant aquatic director was advertised. "I saw the opportunity and I took it," he says.

Like others who grow up on the island, Pignato wasn't planning on returning home after college graduation. The future, beginning with college, seemed to lie off island. "When I graduated high school here, I said, 'I'm done,' he admits.

"But," he goes on to say, "I'm really happy to be here."

By working in the schools, he is carrying on a tradition of sorts. His father, Jack, taught on Nantucket from the '70s through the turn of the century and was the popular "Mr. P," a highly respected mathematics teacher in the high school. Jim had his father for math in his junior and senior years. "That was an interesting situation," he says now. "There was no slacking off on my part, and I definitely learned a lot."

They almost overlapped, too. The elder Pignato retired in 2001 when Jim's brother, Stephen, graduated. Jim began work in the high school in 2002, teaming at first with then aquatic director Steve McCluskey. He was reunited as well with Webb, who continued to coach the high school team until 2003. When Pignato took over the high school reins, he had no qualms about turning to Webb for help. "I went to him on a daily basis," he recalls. "He was very much involved my first year of coaching."

There was another reunion as well. Beginning with his years as a Dolphin, through high school, and even into college, Pignato always seemed to be swimming against Justin Bohannen from Nauset.

"Justin and I swam against each other when we were young. In high school he swam for Nauset, still our biggest rival, our 'Vineyard' game. Then we competed when I went to Bentley and he swam for Bridgewater State College. Now we're coaching against each other - he's the assistant at Nauset."

Their rivalry has grown into mutual respect. "It's always been great for me to see a familiar face," Pignato says.

With swimming season underway, Pignato's busy season has begun. He oversees practices for both the Dolphins and high school teams and travels with each. Beyond that, there's a regular community pool schedule to maintain.

But he wouldn't have it any other way.

"I love working at the pool," he says. "I love giving back." He values what he was taught on Nantucket and hopes he can have the same kind of impact on today's island students. "Hopefully, I can help shape some of our students into swimmers for the future."

Should they need any inspiration, they need only look to the Dolphins' record board, where Pignato's

name remains. I