We’re a couple of weeks into a new year. Has it been a “happy” one so far for you?

Meet Mike Venos: the personification of happiness.

And, why not? He coached two state Division 1 swim and dive champions in 2017 — in the spring, the boys at Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice and, in the fall, the girls at Farmington Hills Mercy.

Alas and alack, Mike, who is 53, wasn’t always happy. When he was a ninth grader at Grand Blanc High, he was cut during tryouts for the freshmen basketball team. To this day, he recalls his father’s consoling words: “Don’t think you’re going to lie around ‘til baseball!”

He opted for the swim team. “Nah, I wasn’t very good,” he laughs, but Mike had the self-confidence to take a shot at coaching. A year out of high school, he embarked on the trail of a coaching career that’s now in its 34th happy year, one that’s included stints back at Grand Blanc, Bloomfield Hills Andover, Ferndale, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, and for the last 20 years, Brother Rice.



He’s also coached for just as many years at the Beachwood Recreation Association’s summer club in Troy, teaching more than 200 kids ages 4 to 18 about the joy of competitive swimming.

Mike has directed Brother Rice to six state championships: in 2000, 2007, and the last four years in a row. Twice, he has been named Coach of the Year by the Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association.

He succeeded Shannon Dunworth at Mercy two years ago. Mike coached the Marlins to runners-up in his first year, losing by a mere 10 points, rebounding last year for the state title.

Brother Rice and Mercy have dominated Catholic League swimming for decades. Rice has won the CHSL 20 years in a row under Venos. Mercy has won the CHSL trophy in 50 of the last 51 years.

“It’s a tradition handed down,” Mike explains. “The kids understand the sacrifices they have to make and the hard work they need to put in.”

“Hard” is hardly the proper description for the rigorous schedule swimmers go through. Two-a-day practices are normally 5:30 to 7 in the morning, and for a couple of hours after school. Mercy is the only CHSL school with its own pool. Rice swimmers drive 35 minutes to use the pool at Waterford Kettering. This is pretty much the norm for the other dozen girls and boys schools that have swim teams.

“The kids learn time-management skills,” Mike says, boasting that in all his years at Rice, and the same at Mercy, the teams average GPA scores of at least 3.65.

Mike hired on at Brother Rice with the stipulation he would get a teaching position in either English or history (his majors at Oakland University) when one became available, and accepted to teach theology in the meantime.

“Within a month, I told them I’d like to stay with theology. I love teaching Gospel values to young men,” Mike says, “and I love that every 45 minutes a new group of 30 students walk in, six or seven times a day.”

About the Mercy position, Mike didn’t really have much choice if he wanted to keep his family happy. His wife Angela (“my best fan”), mother, aunt, sister-in-law and daughter are all Mercy graduates.



More than a hundred of Mike’s swimmers have garnered all-state honors, and two dozen hold state records. A handful of swimmers have followed Mike’s coaching path, including his son, Drew Edson, head coach at Detroit U-D Jesuit, and Chris Bagley, head coach at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood.

No one was happier than Mike when he had open-heart surgery last summer. “I didn’t feel anything wrong before the operation, but I feel really good now.”

So, you want to be happy? “Jump in. The water’s fine.”

Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].