Emery earns berth in Hall of Fame

BANGOR – When Phil Emery received the letter announcing his selection to the Maine Sports Hall of Fame, he had two immediate thoughts.

First he felt “very, very proud for myself, because I worked hard,” the longtime Bangor High School swimming coach recalled. “My parents [now deceased] would be proud, my family [and] my friends would be proud because they’re supportive of me.”

The second thought was that the honor reflects the cooperation and teamwork he has experienced “from the swimmers, students, parents, city, the YMCA, Husson College and the high school administration – from the superintendent to the school committee,” he said. “They have all been supportive of the program.”

Emery will receive the award June 8 at the Bangor Motor Inn and Convention Center.

“As a kid I learned to swim at my grandparents’ cottage. I knew how to swim by the age of 5,” said the Brewer resident. When he was in the ninth grade, John Coombs introduced him to competitive swimming.

“All the physical ed classes had a swim test. The good swimmers were asked to join the YMCA swim team,” he said, and so Emery joined the team in 1960.

The following year the swim team was officially approved by the school committee and Emery swam for Bangor High, captaining its 1964 state championship team.

“I loved it from the first day,” Emery said. In fact, he never missed a practice in high school, although he did miss a meet because of the flu.

“It’s just been a passion,” he said of his love for the sport.

“It’s the most just of the sports,” the Bangor High earth science teacher added. “The great thing about swimming is that it doesn’t depend on raw talent, but a willingness to work hard.”

With swimming, he said, you “get out of it what you put into it. It’s the rare occasion with someone who works hard and isn’t successful,” Emery said.

He also called the sport “very demanding. It’s the nature of swimming.”

As a result, swimming teaches positive qualities such as competition, goal-setting, organization and time management.

In addition, the swimmers are “by and large very good students, [and] involved in other activities in the high school,” Emery said.

The coach believes the young men and women involved receive enormous satisfaction through their achievements. Because the activity is time-oriented, swimmers compete against each other and against the clock.

“In other sports, which I like and respect, it may be more difficult to measure improvement,” Emery said. “In swimming, one can look at the times.”

He has coached Bangor to 20 state championships, including the past five years. This year’s team is 6-0 and is preparing for the Penobscot Valley Conference and state championships in February.

While there is great success, Emery chooses to focus on the maturation of the swimmers.

“There are so many things that build character, build a person. This is just one of them. It’s a great opportunity,” he said, pointing out that swimming can act as a keel, helping young people mature into adults.

The memorable moments don’t all take place at the pool, he added. One of the “25 great days” of his life occurred last summer when he attended a wedding.

“The daughter of one the guys I had coached was marrying a swimmer I coached; the best man, a swimmer; the bride’s brothers, swimmers; the bride, a swimmer. There were girls there I’d worked with summer swimming, parents of kids I coached. To be around that group of men and women, to see them mature, those are the true rewards,” Emery said.

“There are the instant rewards. You win, don’t win, get better. Ultimately, it’s the relationships with parents [and] kids that’s important,” he said.

Emery sees the experience philosophically.

“It’s like a canoe trip. If all you were concerned about was the destination, you’d miss out on the other things, like developing friends, making stronger bonds, seeing the scenery. It’s a combination of the good and bad that causes really strong bonds to build, getting through things together, for better or worse. I can’t imagine not doing it,” Emery said. “It’s been a great, great life experience in every way.”

Also inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame will be the late Shawn Walsh, University of Maine hockey coach; Ordman Alley, basketball coach at Jonesport-Beals High School; Jack Scott, who played basketball for Ellsworth High School and Husson College; the late Fred Brice, who coached football at the University of Maine from 1921 to 1941; Wayne Champeon, who played football and basketball at UM and was a longtime high school coach; Charles “Gus” Folsom, who coached basketball at Lawrence High School; and Thaxter Trafton, former president of the Cleveland Cavaliers and president of the International Basketball League.

Tickets to the banquet are $25 a person, and may be ordered from George Chandler at 7 Pine Ridge Road, Cape Elizabeth 04107.