The Middlebury community will celebrate the swim and teaching accomplishments of Joe Keller in an open house at Northridge on July 16. (File photo by Mike Deak)

MIDDLEBURY – Before Joe Keller sets sail for Fishers, the Northridge swim and school community will honor one of the best to ever coach at Northridge.

The community celebration and open house for Keller will take place on Sunday, July 16, from 3-6 p.m. at the Northridge High School cafeteria.

Keller coached boys and girls swimming at Northridge for 26 combined years, guiding the Raiders to the only success the swim program has ever known. Under Keller, his teams have won 28 sectional titles and 35 Northern Lakes Conference championships, the boys consecutively claiming 19 straight NLC and 15 straight sectionals.

As if that wasn’t enough, Keller helped elevate the Northridge Area Swim Association club team, which has become one of the elite programs in the state. In late April, Keller announced he was leaving Northridge to take the swim coaching position at Fishers High School in suburban Indianapolis. Kyle Hembree, who swam for Keller and later became an assistant coach in the program, was soon named Keller’s successor as head coach.