Eastwood Coach Steve Flato Enjoying First Week of Retirement

this is his new gig… it’s called retirement … flato: it’s like almost a dream. you always work toward the end of this, your career. when you finally realize it, your head gets real light and everything calms down. it’s a time for reflection… coach flato skims through old photo albums… remembering all the kids who made it such a joy for 33 years… flato won 58 district titles… had 4 state title relays… 4 more individual state champions… and 3 nationally ranked teams… flato: there’s a lot of people who dreamed about having titles in the district and district championships but kids like that never let those dreams come true for the other people. sitting on an island in a sea of memories … it’s still easy to find the best one… flato: 1998. 200 freestyle relay when the all-american plaque came in and in the middle of it is painted in red. national champions. and finally after 33 years… it’s time for coach flato to drift on… coach flato says there’s no chance he’ll return to coaching high school swimming… this is a big baseball day…