By Jondi Gumz
The name of one of the Olympic medalists in swimming is known to the residents of Aptos: Caspar Corbeau.
Caspar Corbeau celebrates his finish.
He won a bronze medal for the Netherlands in the 200-meter breaststroke.
Corbeau – isn’t that the name of a top swimmer at Aptos High?
Yes, actually.
Both Jim Corbeau and his wife Shannon Hocum Corbeau were club swimmers on a top team that produced nationally ranked swimmers.
Here he talks about her swimming history, the anticipation of watching her 23-year-old son compete in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and his future plans:
Can you tell our readers a little about your Aptos swimming story?
We both started swimming as young children with the Cabrillo Threshers in the early 1970s. Our coaches at the time were Pete McLean and Jim Triplett.
After a few years, we both moved to the Santa Cruz Aquatic Team (SCAT), which at the time was one of the best clubs in Northern California and produced many national-level swimmers.
What year did you graduate? What year did your wife graduate?
I graduated in 1982 and Shannon in 1984.
Your son has an unusual first name. How did you come up with it?
We wanted all our children to have “typical” European names (I am Dutch and Shannon also has European ancestors). Caspar’s siblings are Angus and Nicolien.
And how did you manage to get Caspar into the pool?
We started with water safety and “learn to swim” at Jim Booth Swim School (also one of our former coaches!). We vacationed in Tahoe every summer and wanted all of our kids to be comfortable in the water. When we moved to Oregon, all three kids started at the local swim club.
What made you move to Oregon?
When we returned to Aptos from Europe in 2000, we quickly realized it was no longer the place we had grown up in in the 1970s. We wanted a slower pace of life for ourselves and our children, and Oregon offered just that.
What training helped Caspar qualify for the Olympic Games in the 200-meter breaststroke?
Caspar has always been a very determined, motivated athlete and student with an enormous work ethic. For this reason, he is also very quick to learn.
He was fortunate to be coached from 14 to 18 by Christopher Pfaffenroth at his club in Oregon (CP is one of the best young coaches in the country) and then by one of the greatest coaches in history, Eddie Reese, at the University of Texas.
After moving to Amsterdam in the summer of 2023 (after graduating from Texas), his coach there (Mark Faber, who led Arno Kamminga to two silver medals in breaststroke at the Tokyo Olympics and Tes Schouten to a bronze medal in breaststroke in Paris) made some significant changes to his technique and dramatically improved his flexibility and agility.
He is probably the best “glider” in the world – he swims very efficiently. He now has four years to get physically stronger before LA in 2028.
Were you both in Paris to see your son receive the medal?
We were there! We spent the entire week of the swim competition there.
How did you feel when he touched the wall?
He was extremely happy and felt a deep sense of happiness that he had achieved something that most young swimmers dream of and for which he had worked so hard.
Earlier in the week he had a great run in the 100m breaststroke heats and it looked like he could win a medal. But he changed his strategy for the final and that didn’t go well, so the medal in the 200m was very satisfying.
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Learn more about Jim Corbeau and his wife Shannon Hocom Corbeau and their athletic achievements at Aptos High School, courtesy of Athletic Director Travis Fox.
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Jim Corbeau
Aptos High Class of 1982
Jim was a dual-sport athlete at Aptos High School: swimming and water polo. He earned multiple MVP awards in both sports, was named All-League in water polo, and competed all four years at the varsity level in both sports, earning eight honors.
Jim and Shannon celebrate with their son Caspar after he won the bronze medal for the Netherlands.
Jim was the first Aptos swimmer to break the one-minute barrier in the 100-yard breaststroke. He was a multiple SCCAL champion, CCS finalist as a junior and senior, and high school All-American
In the summer of 1982, at the end of his senior year, Jim competed for the Santa Cruz Aquatic Team and became the U.S. Junior Champion in the 100-meter breaststroke.
After high school, Jim attended the University of California Berkeley, where he was a four-year swimmer and competed in the NCAA National Championships as a junior and senior.
Jim has dual US-Dutch citizenship and swam for the Dutch national team from 1983 to 1986. He is a former Dutch record holder in the 50, 100 and 200 meter breaststroke. Representing the Netherlands, he competed at the European Championships in Rome (Italy) in 1983 and in Sofia (Bulgaria) in 1985.
He was a finalist in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 1985 World University Games in Kobe, Japan, and a finalist in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 1986 U.S. World Championships trials.
Jim graduated from Cal in 1986 with a major in political science and a minor in economics. He worked as an assistant coach for the Cal men’s swim team in 1987 and 1988. He then earned his MBA in finance and international business from the University of Wisconsin. At Wisconsin, he served as the assistant head coach of the women’s swim team in 1989 and 1990.
From 2001 to 2004, Jim came full circle when he was named assistant coach for the Cabrillo Threshers club team in Aptos, where he began swimming over 30 years earlier.
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Shannon Hocom
Aptos High Class of 1984
Shannon is one of the best swimmers Santa Cruz County has ever produced.
She was the SCCAL MVP in all four years of high school. She still holds several school and league records and represented the United States in a match against the Soviet Union in 1981, her sophomore year.
Shannon received a swimming scholarship to UCLA, where she earned her teaching credential in special education.
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Jim was the emcee when Shannon was first inducted into the Aptos High Sports Hall of Fame. They have three children – Caspar, Angus and Nicolien – all of whom, not surprisingly, are also swimmers.
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Photos courtesy of the Corbeau family.
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