Powell High School girls’ swim and dive head coach Bob Smartt submitted his resignation at the February Park County School District No. 1 school board meeting after nine years at the helm, citing personal reasons for stepping down.

“Due to family and health reasons, I am stepping away from coaching the Powell High School girls’ swim team after nine fulfilling years,” Smartt said. “For the first time in 14 years, Mary Carole and I have a daughter who in September returned to our hometown of Boulder, Colorado, with her husband and two young children. I want to be able to spend more time with my grandchildren. Also, last June, I was diagnosed with osteoporosis which I treat with a refrigerated medicine that requires daily injections. In Boulder, I have my team of doctors, including Annie, my daughter, an orthopedic surgeon, who are helping me return to health.”

Over his nine years the Panthers finished in the top three at the state meet six times, while also winning four conference championships with the first coming in 2019 — something that hadn’t been achieved by the Panther girls since 1998.

Smartt coached 16 athletes who earned positions on the Panther Wall of Fame.

He also coached at Fairview High School in Boulder, where he was a coach for 10 years with the boys’ team and 19 with the girls’ team.

Those teams claimed three state championships and were runners-up 10 times while earning 66 All-American designations set by the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association.

“I will miss many friendships in the good cities of Powell and Lovell,” Smartt said. “I was blessed to have wonderful assistant coaches in Bailey Jackson, Heather Christensen and Tanya Bonner. Hopefully, the discipline, resilience and leadership skills that we taught will help our athletes develop character in navigating life’s challenges.”