Cmdr. Jon Baca is entering his third season as an assistant coach with the VMI Swimming & Diving programs. Baca, who serves as the Executive Officer of the VMI Naval ROTC, brings extensive aquatic experience to the program, as both a competitor and coach.
Baca is in his 27th year of service in the US Navy, and is currently a member of the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Community as a P-3 Orion Naval Flight Officer. In recent years, he served as the head coach of the Anacortes (Wash.) Masters Swim Club and the Anacortes Water Polo Club, building the former to a roster of 30-plus swimmers.
A graduate of the University of New Mexico with a Bachelor's degree in Exercise Technology, Baca has also has a broad range of experience while coaching collegiately. He most recently coached at George Washington University, where he was served as an assistant coach and the strength coach for the school's water polo team that scored a pair of landmark wins over Navy. He previously founded and coached the water polo club at his alma mater after serving as an assistant for the Lobos' men's and women's swim programs in charge of sprinters and the strength program.
In addition to his coaching experience, Baca continues to compete in the pool, placing seventh at the Masters World Championships in the 50 breast in 2006 while coming in fourth at the Masters Short Course National Championships in 2007. A former swimmer at UNM, Baca also earned a Master's degree in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School. Baca has been married for 23 years to Terri Porter, and the couple has five children.
