Ned Denison, chairperson of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, announced Jorge ‘Coco’ Villegas Pérez of Mexico as an Honor Coach in its Class of 2025.
Villegas started as a professional marathon swimmer, finishing fourth on the 1979 World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation circuit before he transformed himself to an elite national and Olympic team coach.
After competing in the 57 km Maratón Acuatíco Río Coronda in Argentina (8 hours 22 minutes), the 33.8 km Nile River Marathon in Egypt (7 hours 51 minutes), the 22.5 km Le 14 Milles de Paspébiac in Canada (7 hours 11 minutes), and the 36 km Atlantic City Around the Island Swim in the USA (8 hours 28 minutes), he turned to coaching in 1982 and became even more successful.
But in between his coaching stints, he was also a member of the Casablanca Mexico relay that completed a two-way crossing of the English Channel in 18 hours 54 minutes in 2006 together with Jaime Lomelin, Bernado Huesca, Mauricio Balderas, Luis O Vargas, and David Cano [shown below].
Over the years, he served as the Mexican coach at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and as the Mexican National Swim Team coach from 1987 to 1991 and again from 1993 to 1996 at the Pan Pacific Championships, Latin Cup, Central American and Caribbean Games (CCCAN). Pan Pacific Championships,and at the 1991 FINA World Championships where he coached both the pool and open water swimming coach.
He coached several Mexican Olympians (Laura Sánchez, Tere Rivera, Paola Melendez, Carlos Romo, Jacobo Waisman, David Lederman, Jorge Marino, Ricardo Gómez, and Rodolfo Bulnes) and two fellow International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame inductees: Honor Swimmers Nora Toledano Cadena for 3 years and Jaime Lomelín Gavaldón for 7 years.
Toledano said in Spanish, “Jorge Villegas, uno de los entrenadores de aguas abiertas en México más experimentado, con una gran trayectoria y apasionado de nuestro deporte, quien ha dedicado la mayor parte de su vida a sus nadadores.
Para mi es un orgullo y un privilegio haber entrenado con Jorge, en una de las etapas más importantes de mi carrera como nadadora, y siempre le estaré agradecida por su apoyo en mis proyectos de aguas abiertas, sobretodo para el cruce doble del Canal de la Mancha, y por sus enseñanzas. En horabuena Coco!‘
Translated as “Jorge Villegas, one of the most experienced open water coaches in Mexico with a great career and passionate about our sport, has dedicated most of his life to his swimmers. For me, it is a pride and a privilege to have trained with Jorge in one of the most important stages of my career as a swimmer. I will always be grateful to him for his support in my open water projects, especially for the double crossing of the English Channel and for his teachings. Congratulations Coco!“
To date, he has coached more than 100 open water swimmers who completed over 300 open water swims in 16 countries including the English Channel (including two-way crossings by Nora Toledano and Carlos Acosta), 57 km Maratón Acuática Internacional Santa Fe – Coronda in Argentina, the 1987 Cancún International Marathon Swim, 1991 Salvador Bahía swim in Brazil, the 36 km Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli in Italy, the 25 km FINA World Championships in Perth, Australia, the 45 km Molokai Channel in Hawaii, USA, Lac Leman in Switzerland, 37 km Loch Ness in Scotland, Madeira in Portugal, the 35 km North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland, the 4-stage 4-day SCAR Swim Challenge with Arleen Gonzalez [shown above], the 32.3 km Catalina Channel, the 14.4 km Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco, the 45.9 km 20 Bridges and 91 km 40 Bridges around Manhattan Island in New York, and the 120 km 8 Bridges Hudson River Swim in New York.
Steven Munatones says, “The 1970’s, 1980’s, 1990’s, 2000’s, 2010’s, and now in the middle of the 2020’s, Coach Jorge is still going strong – as is passionate as ever as a coach and mentor. His cumulative knowledge and experiences – as a competitive swimmer at its roots and developed over the decades – are invaluable. He continues to learn and always share his passion with the next generation of swimmers.
Rough water, cold water, solo crossings or open water competitions, he knows the sport well. His selection as an Honor Coach is a very well-deserved recognition of the value he brings to the sport.“
© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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