TAMPA, Fla. - For 41 years, Jim Lavallee has answered to one name and one name only - Coach.

“That’s a very honorable title to have and I respect what it means,” he said.

Respect is something best earned. And Coach Lavallee has certainly earned it. But after four decades of walking a pool deck, Lavallee is hanging up his stopwatch. The longest tenured coach at Leto High School is retiring. This is his final swim season.

“I’m soaking everything in and I’m realizing there are some parts that I’m not going to miss but at the end of the day, it’s just great kids,” Lavallee said. “It’s all about them.

Unlike most high schools, Leto doesn’t have any club swimmers, the ones who swim year round, the ones who will swim at the next level. These Leto Falcons are in the pool because of one man, Coach.

“I know Leto is going to miss him and so is everyone,” junior Keith Tinsley said. “This program is Coach Lavallee.”

“I’ve played on other sport teams and obviously all of the coaches at Leto are great, but Coach Lavallee is definitely a special coach,” senior Alexis Baez said. “He’s different from the rest.”

Lavallee arrived at Leto High School fresh out of college. It was his first full time teaching job and he made a pledge to the principal who took a chance on him.

“I’m going to be the first one that’s going to start my career at this school and end my career and sure enough that has come true,” he said.

Lavallee’s decades on the pool deck fill up several scrapbooks of memories. So many newspaper clippings, so many photos, including one of his very first team.

In all of his years of coaching, Lavallee produced one state champion and a state runner-up. But he didn’t do it for the accolades. He did it for the kids.

“They make this part of the day the most favorite time of the day and the best time of the day,” he said.

You don’t do something for more than 40 years unless you love it. Coach Lavallee has loved every second. He’s given so much to this sport. But he’s received so much more in return.

“It’s giving me a lot of personal satisfaction,” Lavallee said, “in that I was able to help a lot of young people achieve some goals that they might not have been aware that they could reach.”