COEUR d’ALENE — After 15 years with the Coeur d’Alene Area Swim Team, the last seven as head coach, David Dolphay is moving on.

A championship is a good way to go out.

“It was kind of a perfect ending. I really love the kids here,” Dolphay said.

CAST won the Inland Empire Swimming Long Course Championships held July 21-23 in Pasco, Wash., which it had never won in the team’s 37-year history.

When the scores from three days of competition with 15 teams were tallied, CAST had 3,039 points, holding off Spokane Waves Aquatic with 3,005.

Dolphay brought 60 swimmers ages 18 and under to the meet, where they competed in a 50-meter pool in individual and team events in distances from 50 meters to 1,500 meters, in freestyle, back stroke, breast stroke and butterfly.

The team went into the final day down about 100 points, so when CAST was announced as the winner, a roar of relief rose. After being close in other years, it was gratifying to get the championship.

The work, the time in the pool, the dedication and the sacrifice, paid off.

“To see them rewarded was really special,” Dolphay said. “Our kids swam just lights out, race after race.”

The title did not come as a surprise.

"It was a matter of building on everything they did in practice," he said.

The 37-year-old credited the team’s success to its depth and outstanding efforts across the board. Four team marks were broken.

“All of them contributed,” he said.

It wasn’t easy.

It was triple-digit temperatures in Pasco, with swimmers competing daily.

“We were all pretty exhausted,” he said.

Dolphay, who was also voted IES Coach of the Year, goes out on top. He and wife Noree are moving to Indiana, where she will be attending graduate school at Purdue University.

No doubt, Dolphay will be in demand to coach.

“There are a lot of opportunities out there,” he said.

Dolphay grew up in Great Falls, Mont. He attend Whitworth Collage, where he competed with the swim team four years. His specialty was distance freestyle.

The passion of his coaches influenced him to go into coaching and share his knowledge and love of the sport.

“I became a coach because I had really good coaches,” he said.

He departs CAST having guided its growth to about 130 swimmers. While sad to be leaving, Dolphay is ready for new challenges.

“I’m excited for something a little bit different," he said.

Swimming at a high level is taxing, both physically and mentally. As a coach, he changes up workouts so it’s not day after day of grinding out lap after lap in the pool.

“The kids put in a lot of work,” he said. “It’s a lot of time staring at the bottom of the pool, so you’re really inside your own head.”

He loves watching their pool progression. He has worked with kids coming in as novices and helped develop them into being among the region's best. Some have gone on to swim in college.

“It’s one of my favorite parts,” he said.

His perspective as a coach has changed over the years, from being a hammer and insisting his team swim “the right way" to considering different training styles and program.

“There’s a lot of ways to get things done,” he said. “What’s most important is that you believe in what you're doing and that belief carries you through."

“It’s about having kids believe in what you're giving them,” Dolphay added.

CAST, clearly, believed.