Faith Latella Joins York as Head Swim Coach
By Niko Balkaran
Faith Latella has been named the new head coach for the men’s and women’s swimming teams. Latella previously served as the aquatics director of Special Olympics New York, according to York Athletics.
“I hope to build a team at York based on trust, loyalty, inspiration, hard work and fun!” said Latella. “It is my goal to facilitate student-athlete success in and out of the pool by cultivating close personal relationships with the student-athletes and building a sense of intra-team camaraderie.”
Latella is no stranger to the pool. She was a member of her high school swim team and competed in the NCAA Division lll in college, where she served as captain in her senior year.
Additionally, Latella was the swim program coordinator at the NYC Downtown Community Center before working with Special Olympics. In her time as the program director for Nassau and Suffolk County, she “coordinated 35 regional competitions annually for over 5000 athletes on Long Island and developed, managed and coordinated over 90 competitive athletic teams in 12 different sports,” according to York Athletics.
“Latella is well versed with the Division lll student-athlete experience and has demonstrated tremendous leadership and relationship-building abilities throughout her career,” said Harris Rappel, the assistant athletic director for external relations. “Her passion and excitement for the sport stood out throughout the interview process and will resonate with our student-athletes.”