Hours a week are spent at the pool between a coach and swimmer. Over time, bonds are formed and the two learn about one another. There is a dynamic between the swimmer and the coach. The coach can bring out the swimmers best technique and push them to be successful. The swimmer teaches the coach patience, understanding, and how to thrive as a leader. The two respect each other and grow together.
Swimming is not just an individual sport, it is a partnership between the swimmer and the coach, the swimmer and the team, and the swimmer and the water. There are so many lessons to be learned in the pool and so many moments that will stay with the swimmers and coaches for a lifetime. Swimming is the sport that can impact lives, So let me tell you a little bit about that.
As a coach, every drop of energy you have will be given to your swimmers. You want them to succeed, learn, and continue to grow as athletes. There are days when nothing has gone your way, you're tired, and just do not have it in you to be a coach. But, You remember the reason that you coach... When you work with those kids day after day, month after month, and build their skills and technique -- it is bound to click for them at some point. They finally master the stroke or the butterfly kick with the proper execution.
AND YOU DID THAT.
You helped them achieve that and you see the look of happiness on their face. That is why you coach, that is why you drag yourself to practice even when you think you can't. Those kids are the reason you love to coach and the reason you are one hundred percent invested.
When you work with swimmers you will see them progress and change. The reward is so fulfilling when you watch a swimmer start at the bottom and swim their way up. A swimmer may come to you with little to no knowledge about swimming and not even know how to swim freestyle. You work with them, guide them, coach them, and love them. Before you know it they are mastering higher level skills with textbook execution and you will NEVER be more proud. Those are the coach-able kids. The kids that listen to your every word and apply those words in the water and become some of the best athletes you will work with. They have pure hearts and the mind to press on and give it their all. They leave it all in the pool and work themselves to the bone. Those will be the kids who do not miss a practice and beg to stay late. Those are the swimmers that get you excited to show up to work.
On the other hand, you will have swimmers that make you want to pull your hair out. They are stubborn and do not have the best listening skills. But, you slap on a happy face and face the next two hours with them. You do it because you know that they can succeed, that they will eventually listen, and that they will respect you. It might not be today - but the time will come and it will all be worth it. You constantly repeat yourself and no progress is made, you think that they hear nothing. Then they show up to practice... ready to learn, listen, and let you coach them. They FINALLY grasp the concept and wow they are good. They will blow you away with the way they swim, and that is the payoff. Countless days of frustration do not matter when they come around.
As a coach, you also know the pure sensation of the water. You have been in their shoes and you know what it is like. You dive in and feel the cold water around you, the bubbles rolling off you as you push forward, and the silence of the water. It is you and your own thoughts beneath the surface of the water. You know the feeling of the adrenaline rushing through your body in a race and the overwhelming calmness that washes over you when you swim. You know what they feel and you share that love with them. You want them to have the experience that you did as a swimmer and have the same passion that you did in that water.
Coaching will be the most rewarding job, the job that lets you witness the progress of your work, the job that makes you remember how much love you had for the sport.
I would also like to take a moment to thank my swim club, my swimmers, their parents, and my fellow coaches for the opportunity to mold these young swimmers.
