On this episode of The Pawd, Fresno State head swimming and diving coach Jeanne Fleck and associate head coach Taylor Moore join the show to discuss their 2025–26 squad, recruiting, and what makes Fresno State special. They also share valuable advice for up-and-coming coaches.
Hosted by: Taylor Martinez
Welcome back to the pod. Today we have Jean Fleck, our head swimming and diving coach, as well as Taylor Moore, her assistant. So, Jean, you’re entering your 18th year. I know. I can’t believe it. Take us through it. How did you get to Fresno State? Um, well, when uh 18 years ago, I was uh I applied here. They were starting the program. We hadn’t had a program before. Um well, they did, but they had dropped it like in 2000. I don’t know. had been 5 years. So, they were looking for a new head coach and um my mom had moved to Arizona and so this just seemed like a really good fit for me, for her, you know, she was getting older and I I mean, did I ever think I’d be here for 18 years? Probably not. I mean, most, you know, um head coaches, you just don’t think that long. You know, in the head coaching world, we move a lot. And so it was um yeah, it’s been a great it’s been a great ride. I love it. What about Fresno State has made you want to stay here? I would say Fresno. Um you know, uh it is I’ve met I’ve made the best friends that I’ve ever made anywhere. The community, it’s like a small town even though it’s a town of over a million with you know um both um Clovis and Fresno. But where I live, the people that have supported us, I’ve just it the teams have been great. I mean, one thing that really helped us, I think, was that we didn’t have a pool the first two years, and that we were building one because we went to Clovis West, we went to Clovis North, and I got to know those coaches so well. And so, and then the parents, I got to know everyone in that swimming community. So when we came over here, we weren’t just isolated in our own world. Taylor, how did you get to Fresno? Uh, so Jean hired me back in 2022. Uh, originally came from University of Pacific, but I’ve been a California guy my whole life. And so when I saw the opportunity to come and join Jean’s staff, uh, gave me the ability to branch out, try something new, as well as keep me close to my family. and uh going through the interview process, just really liked what I was hearing from the program and uh what she was looking at that she wanted to accomplish really lined up with some of my goals. And you know, here we are in year four and I think we’ve made some great strides towards what we had initially talked about early on and uh yeah, just been going really well. Gene, what stuck out to you about Taylor? Um his enthusiasm. I mean, he, you know, I’m getting old. Um, and he he brings that enthusiasm and really uh it’s been a great combination for us. Um, and I think the girls have really enjoyed that. And so I think that’s that’s one big thing. His knowledge of swimming is amazing. That’s why I mean, of course, that’s why I wanted to hire him. And he’s also a great recruiter. So So Taylor, you grew up in Northern California. What are some of your first memories of Fresno State? Oh, football. Like my first football game coming in. I mean, came from a small university, didn’t have that, and just walking in um I think it was Oregon State game and it was just like this is awesome. Just feeling that uh that energy um was was pretty cool and the enthusiasm towards Fresno State athletics and and we’re fortunate enough to feel that on the swim side as well. and with our invite coming up here this weekend. Feel that energy at our invite. Um, so that just the the love of the athletics in the Fresno area has been awesome. Talk to me about the invite this weekend. Well, we’ve got the Garyota invite. We we named it after one of our coaches that passed last year, Gary, and he’s, you know, been in the valley for 50 years before that. And so, but we have a great we this invite is always a great invite and it and it really is showcasing the Mountain West this year. Um, we have Washington State, San Diego State, Air Force, San Jose State, and us. So, it’s a it’s going to be like a preview of what the Mountain West meet can be, you know, with half the teams. Um, so it’s always really fun. It’s the beginning of the season. So, we have um Friday at 11 or 10, no 11. Friday at 11. Friday at 11:00 and then Friday night is the second session at 6:00 p.m. And we’re trying to do pack the pool. Trying to get as many people as we can to come. We’ve been asking anybody that we know that wants to give e extra credit for their classes. The canise classes. That’s awesome. Well, the canise swimming class is doing that and we’re hoping some other professors might uh come in um and really pack the place. Um and then Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. For someone who hasn’t been to a swim meet here, what’s the energy like? Um it’s really pretty high. You know, the re we always start with a relay and the relays are just so much fun. So, you know, that always really gets everybody going. Um, and so that’s kind of exciting. And it’s the first meet really of the year, so there’s going to be a lot of excitement everywhere, you know, and there’s a lot of cheering. When they’re in the pool, they want to hear the crowd, you know, and so that’s kind of exciting. What’s special about this team? Well, I mean, last year we had a magical season, you know, we we just we just swam great. And I think that the this team is just building on that. As a matter of fact, I think we are better suited and more even keeled this year than we were last year. Um we have 10 new people coming in and we didn’t graduate any of our NCAA qualifiers. So I think we’re setting up for a really great year. They’re just a a great group of young ladies. you know, they all get along, they all have fun together, and they’re all really good friends. Talk to me about your newcomers. So, we’ve got Oh, I’m gonna forget somebody. This is going to be bad because we have 10. Um, but first and for uh foremost, we have two transfers. One, uh, McKenzie, uh, Lung, who is, she was from BYU. She was second at NCAA’s last year. um probably the best swimmer we’ve ever brought in um to our program. She is hands down. I mean last year we had NCA qualifiers and our first one that scored. So McKenzie’s coming in right away um way better than that. So um that’s pretty exciting. And the second thing about that is she’s from Sanger. So, I mean that she went to Clovis East, I think. And um you know, she’s a Clovis kid and a Sanger kid and we’re just really excited to have her join our program and to come swim for us her senior year. And then um we have Claire Lukan who has transferred from she’s a sophomore. She is from Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona, which half our team is from Phoenix, Arizona I think. um and she comes from South Carolina and she’s going to be someone that’s going to be really really helpful. And then we have I mean I think there’s well there’s eight more coming in. Um we have uh Kale Burke from St. Louis Bispo. We have Safia and um who am I? Caroline and Alani all from Phoenix, Arizona. So there and two of them are from the team that we’re we’re just getting everyone from that team. It’s just kind of crazy. Um and then we have a young lady from Maryland, Ava. Ava. And then we have who am I missing? Um Haley. Oh, Haley Oak from uh Ontario, Canada. And I feel like I’m missing some. Oh, Ariana. We have uh a transfer diver from New Mexico and she is from Italy. Um and then Ella is not a freshman. Um she is a sophomore, but she was not eligible last year, so she is going to be and she’s from England and she’s eligible now. Yeah. Uh Audrey Hill. Audrey Hill. Um from San Diego. A lot of newcomers. Yes. I’m like I know I’m going to somebody. Yeah. So some of your returners. Let’s talk about Yenna. Well, Yenna had uh an amazing year last year. Um she, you know, made NC2AS in the 10200 breaststroke and then this summer um she was at the World University Games um with uh representing Finland. So, that was very exciting. So, and she’s also a sprint freestyler. She can sprint fly. She’s a great one coming back. She’s a leader in and out of the pool. just a great young lady. So, we’re really excited to see what she can do. And conference champion in the 100 breaststroke last year. And Aliz was our NCA another NCA scorer in the 100200 breaststroke just like McKenzie, just like Anna. I don’t know what it is, but we have a lot of breaststroers on our team. Um, you know, Liz also went to the World University Games. um she scored at NCAAS in the 200 brushstroke last year and so um very excited and they had a great summer season. Aliz got two fourth places at the World University Games. She missed getting on the podium but had an amazing they both had an amazing meet. It was a great experience for both of them. Or is there anyone else who you feel like had good off seasons that can contribute a lot? Yeah, I mean I think uh Sam and Maria are two other captains with Grace. I mean Grace is going to have a great year and she was a diver that um went to NCA’s last year. Um but I think that um Sam and Maria are going to do amazing help our relays. Um Riley Clark um was a young lady that um finaled in the 200 backstroke last year as a freshman. Sienna Chang, she made consoles in both of her events in the 200 backstroke. Um, and I think some of our incoming freshmen are going to really push for those spots as well. And then we have Laura um, who scored top eight in the 400 IM and the um, mile. And we don’t have Taran, but she’s also part of your staff as well. Talk about your relationship with her. Well, Taran’s been with me for 17 years. She’s on her 18th season as well and she would have come with me but she’s in practice right now. The divers train at a different time than we do. Um but she is amazing. I mean she we have six divers this year. Our diving team is loaded. You know we had um three scores last year. Parker, um Natalia and uh Grace and they’re all back. And then Ariana, she scored at New Mexico in the top 16 in her events. So we have four scores just in diving alone than the top 16. So that’s going to be great for our conference meet. And when did you know you wanted to become a coach? Oh, good lord. Um, I started coaching when I was in 14 or 15 at a country club in the summer and um just kept coaching every summer, you know, and then went to Iowa State and when I was a fifth year at Iowa State, um the De Mo Swim Federation asked me to start coaching with them if I could work with their team and so I would drive down to De Moines and then I was working with the men’s team. So really my senior year in college, I knew coaching was where I was going to go. What about you, Taylor? When did you know? Oh man. Uh so I coached in college a little bit, just summer jobs, having fun with that. But it wasn’t my first gig once I graduated. Uh I was doing data analytics. I lasted three months and I was coaching club part-time and the guy I was with uh I quit the data analytics job and begged him to take me on full-time and yeah that’s that was 2015 and so jumped all in right then and there and then jumped into college coaching in 2017. What do you love about coaching? Oh, I’ll tell you right now because it it happened this weekend. I love the relationships that you build and to see. Well, the girls will laugh if they watch this podcast cuz why I coach is because I want them to be strong independent women to go out into the world and do great things. I say that to the girls every that’s that’s why I coach. And this weekend we had our alumni weekend and we had I don’t know 15 to 20 alumni back. I can’t even remember. But while I was sitting at the table and they were all coming in, I got a phone call from a a group that I coached at Ohio State and it was their alumni weekend and they called me and facetimed with me because they wanted to talk to me about, you know, I mean that, you know, that’s why they were back. So really that is why I coach and I and I want to see these women and seeing the difference between when they’re 18 and 21 is just the growth is just amazing. And you know, I went to a brunch. Um, one of the girls that was on my very first team here, um, 18 years ago, um, got married and a bunch of the girls came back and they invited me to meet him out for brunch. And, um, and those were girls that I just peeled out of the chinesiology classes because we didn’t have enough. I only had three months to get a team. So, I got hired in May and I had to have a team in August. And so I was getting kids out of, you know, PE classes. Steph Hadyama was here. She’s a veterinarian down in Sanger now. And um she she was a sophomore and she was in the honors program and I just heard she swam in high school and I got her phone number and I called her up and said, “Will you please come out and swim?” And she comes back to our alumni meet every year. Her sister ended up making the Olympic trials, swam for us as well. So, it’s those relationships. What about you, Taylor? You got to go back to the question. I was What do you love about coaching? Oh, man. Uh, yeah. I mean, as Jean mentioned earlier, I’m a big energy guy. Um, I love being the hype man. I love psyching the gals up and getting them ready to race. Uh, and then seeing the look on their face like at the end of races when they’ve accomplished something or done something that at the start of the year was such a massive goal and they didn’t know if they would even be quite capable of being able to do it. But then they put in the hard work, they do all the training, the hours and end of the year it all comes together and that just that smile, man, it’s awesome. What would you say is the team culture that you try to establish? Well, we’re working on it. I mean I you know I always tell recruits they that’s the first question a recruiter will ask you what’s the team culture well it changes every year because you have new people every single year but our foundation is you know responsibility respect and resilience. So we base everything on those three Rs of our swimming and um our culture is that you know is they they love each other. They they are best friends and I I’m an old school coach. I still make my swimmers all live in the dorms their freshman year really. And I hear back from them that that was one of the best things that I could ever do for them is because they eat their meals together as a group. It’s not just three in an apartment or four in an apartment. Every meal they have together. And that is what builds that foundation. And I didn’t have anyone transfer, you know, out of my senior class last year. I had one girl transfer. I think that is part of our culture and I think it’s part of our success. If we can keep everyone here and they keep growing together, they’re going to be really successful. What is the when you’re recruiting, what is the draw to Fresno State? What can you tell the athletes they’re going to expect? Well, like I said, we haven’t had a lot of transfers, so that’s a big thing. Um, you know, I mean, that doesn’t happen anymore. And so we really sell that. But it’s in the environment, you know, like Taylor said, I mean, we have we’re one of the few state schools in California that can say, you know, maybe USC has a few more people, but we are getting people at our football games. The town is behind us. Everybody loves Fresno State that lives in Fresno, Clovis, and that energy is contagious. And that’s I mean we sell that we sell you know that we’re just a family you know and that I’ve you know and stability. I’ve been here 18 years. I’m not looking to leave you know I mean not going anywhere unless they kick me out you know um this is where I want to be. Y Taylor, what’s some advice you have to young coaches? It’ll it takes time. It definitely does. um in terms of being able to establish your knowledge base, how you’re going to communicate with athletes and and you’re going to make mistakes, you’re going to fail. Don’t be afraid to fail and uh you know, if you mess up one thing with an athlete, learn from it and then you’ll grow and you’ll be better with the next one. Um but don’t don’t be afraid of taking that leap and that jump to to try something new and uh just continue to grow and always continue to educate yourself with the sport because it it’s constantly evolving. It’s it’s always changing and so uh yeah, I’d say yeah, don’t be afraid to fail. That’s the big one. What about Eugene? Um a couple things. I I like that. And I and I think putting your ego on a shelf because you are going to fail and you have to be able to admit that you’ve made a mistake and learn from that because if you never admit that you make mistakes, then you’re not growing. Okay? You’re not growing as a person or a coach. and just always wanting to learn. The the whole thing about being a a great athlete is that great athletes want to learn. They are striving for new things. And I think as uh a young coach, you have to do that and get a mentor. You know, mentoring is really close to my heart. Um and I just really believe in it fully. And I think that you having someone that you can trust, that you can talk to, that you can throw ideas off of is huge. And then we’re going to finish out with a little game about your team and you guys can discuss together to come up with your answers. Okay. But if someone on your team was going to survive a zombie apocalypse, who would it be and why? Oh man, Sam. Yeah, Sam was my Yes. Sam. First one. First of all, she’s just smart. She is, you know, resilient. She’s going to think of things that I would never think of. You know what I mean? Like I also have another one. Oh, who? Fronzy. Fronzy. I think Fronzy I think just is willing to in that environment have would have no problem trying to thrive. Okay. If you had to put a team together to win the Amazing Race, how many people go? Two two two people. Aliz and Laura. That’s pretty good. Yeah. Well, until they start squabbbling. Yes. They’re gonna fight. They’re going to be the ones that are going to fight on TV and you’re going to see them fight. I mean, they they fight on the pool deck. Like, I got to break them up. They they they But they’re sisters, you know? They’re twins. But I think Yeah. I I I don’t know, though. They might be scared of stuff in terms of like some of the challenges like tasting things and doing all that kind of stuff maybe. I don’t but that but that just working together they can read each other’s minds. So yeah if someone was going to become famous for something other than swimming who would it be? Like I’m trying to think of like an inventor like I mean she’s like the scientist on our team kind of Sam. Yeah. Yeah. And then I’m trying to think of like I don’t know my freshman well enough yet to know if you know the newcomers if they would be um but you know what I could see Ella getting on some game show or something and getting 15 minutes of fame or something. I could see Maria doing like some sort of like social media thing. Yeah. But if you’re looking for inventing something or Sam is our, you know, she is just, I mean, she is just into her major and she’s just, you know, I she’s a go-getter. You know, no one’s going to stop her. If you were stranded on the side of the road and you had to count on someone to answer their their phone, first call, who is it going to be? Probably Maria. Mhm. I Yeah, Maria. Oh, she wouldn’t have a car to come help me. So, I don’t know how, but she always is right on. She She answers. It would not be Taylor. I would not call. You wouldn’t call him. Throwing him under the bus. But he and Taran Taran and Taylor don’t always have their phones, which is great because most people and and you wouldn’t want to call me because I lose my phone all the time. So, there are days that I don’t even have it with me. So, don’t call you. Okay. Don’t call me. and uh just plug the home event one more time as we wrap up. All right, so we have the Gary uh ODA invite. We’ve got great teams coming all from the Mountain West. It’s going to be a Mountain West shootout. You know, it’s going to be exciting and it’s at 11:00 Friday morning for session one, session two, under the light, 6:00 p.m. Pack the pool. We’re going to do a little giveaway. We’re going to give away t-shirts to students that get there. Hopefully the first 25 um is our goal. We got to make sure that we have 25 t-shirts, but I think we do. Um, and then, um, but we want those to go to students, not just regular population. And then, um, on Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. And it’s kind of it plays off of our conference championship. So, they’re swimming all of the events. And it’s a tiring meet. Like, by the third session, these girls are exhausted because they will have swam a million events, you know. All right. Well, thank you both for joining me today. Thank you. And we’ll see you guys next time on The Pod.
