Burlingame native Jeremy Coe goes gold in Maccabiah Games

Not only did Coe take on quite a workload this summer, he has plenty of hardware to show for it. In July, Coe competed for the U.S. in the 21st Annual Maccabiah Games in Israel, earning three medals, including a gold, in relay events in the 16U junior division. He then returned home and added another proverbial feather to his cap, taking first place in the Alcatraz Sharkfest wetsuit race Sunday in San Francisco.

“It’s gotten much better,” Coe said of his shoulder injuries, tendonitis in both shoulders caused by overwork last summer. “To me, for Alcatraz, it was almost OK. But throughout the summer it progressed … back to normal.”

Coe didn’t back off his workload at the Maccabiah Game. He did ultimately drop one event, the 1,500-meter freestyle, but still competed in six events — three individuals and three relays.

It was his performance in the men’s 100 free that set the tone for his performance at the two-week Maccabiah summer games held July 12-26. While he didn’t medal in the event, he took seventh place with a time of 54.9 seconds, bettering his previous personal record of 55.8 by nearly a full second. It was this performance that earned him a spot on the relay teams, he said.

“I was really happy with my performance,” Coe said. “I got the best times in the 100 freestyle and the 400 freestyle — I dropped a second in the 100 free — and went on to all those relays and ended up medaling because of that.”

Coe took sixth place in the 400 free and competed in the 800 free. But it was his spot on the mixed 4x100 free relay for which he earned gold. He also claimed two silver medals in each the men’s 4x100 free relay, and the men’s 4x50 free relay.

It was something of a calculated risk that led Coe to the U.S. team. He was named to the 16U roster in January, prior to his season at St. Ignatius, and wasn’t sure if his shoulders would hold up.

“Yeah, once I found out I was really excited,” Coe said. “It was a while ago now. It was January of this year that I found out. … It was a little pressure because my shoulder was still hurting me at that point.”

It was in last year’s Alcatraz Sharkfest that Coe first started experiencing shoulder pain. The annual event held in San Francisco Bay — a 1.5-mile swim from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf — has been a staple for him in recent years. This year marked the third straight year he’s competed in the wetsuit race. At the age of 15, he took second place in 2021.

The Alcatraz Sharkfest is an open division, meaning Coe raced against all ages. Top 10 finishers this year included swimmers in their 20s and 30s, and even 53-year-old John Kaelle, who took ninth place. Now 16, Coe has a distinct advantage with his superior length. The soon-to-be high school junior is 6-6.

Still, it was plenty intimidating for Coe as he took the ferry boat to Alcatraz Island Sunday morning.

“Extremely nervous for the well-being of my shoulder,” Coe said. “And also, the really massive looking college kids.”

Getting out to a rough start, Coe trailed for more than half the race. It’s a difficult swim to negotiate competitively as the open water doesn’t lend well to visibility. Coe said he could see the pack of swimmers immediately in front of him but had no way of knowing if there were other swimmers further along in front of them.

“From far away, when I was catching up, I could notice the white water of people in front of me,” Coe said. “It’s always hard to tell if you’re actually in first because there’s always a white wave blocking you.”

This was a challenge that came back to bite him last year. He finished the 2021 race thinking he might have won as he didn’t see anyone in the water in front of him. Once he made land, he learned he finished in second place.

This year he conquered this challenge, finishing in 30 minutes, 21 seconds, and learning back on land the time was good enough for first place.

“I’ve done the race three times,” Coe said. “I actually quite enjoy beating people who are older than me, especially the capable ones.”