By Meaghan Raab, Swimming World College Intern.
Going home for Christmas break is something that all college students look forward to. The group that is most eager for the break is perhaps the college swimmers. Christmas break means Christmas training, which is known by all swimmers to be some of the hardest weeks of the year. These practices often include crazy hard sets like 12,000 IMs for time or 100 x 100s. Being home with friends and family is a much-needed hiatus from the challenging workouts at school.
This time can be spent relaxing at home or doing something fun that normally the athletes wouldn’t have the time in which to partake. The practices done at the club level could be quite different from those at college level. The club coaches have a lot of swimmers to deal with at practice, and they don’t need a bunch of college kids coming back and distracting the other swimmers from what they need to be doing.
Here are nine things college swimmers can give club coaches:
1. Show up every day on time.
This should be the easiest one to do. At school you wouldn’t show up late to practice. You have developed a routine about what time to get up for morning practice and have figured out the fastest route from your last class to the pool for afternoon practice. You need to find the routine that works for you at home when the practices may be at different times than you are used to. Showing up early shows the coach that you care about their time, which is a good place to start.
2. Encourage the younger swimmers with kind words.
Many club programs have diverse groups with kids of all ages in every group. There may be some 14 year olds in the highest group that you will be training with. These swimmers are impressionable and are going to hang on to your every word. Encouraging them will allow them to look up to you and think, “Wow that college swimmer is awesome. They helped me through a hard set.” This type of communication gives a visual representation of where they can go and what they can do in the sport. Coaches appreciate this because it means they don’t need to show or tell them about what is out there. Kids often relate best to those of similar age and interests.
3. Help with equipment or lane lines.
This is likely something that you don’t want to do, but it needs to be done. Helping out in these areas show that you are a mature individual who is thoughtful of others. If you help out then the tasks will be done quicker and you can be on your way home. Coaches love when the older kids offer to pitch in and help with these things because they don’t have to do it themselves.
4. Thank them for still caring.
Coaches may sometimes feel unappreciated for the amount of time and effort they put into each workout during season. There are coaches out there that care so much about their swimmers’ lives in and out of the pool. Use your voice and actually say to them, “Thank you for still caring about me as a swimmer and as a person.” You could make their day by saying this and recognizing that they had a hand in shaping who you are today.
5. Offer to talk to the senior swimmers about college swimming.
There are things in the recruiting process that a coach would be better to talk to, but there are some things in which a college swimmer would be able to provide more insight. You can share your experience in recruiting as well as your experience at the school you chose. If you feel comfortable sharing you could even mention some of the things that pointed you to that school. Hearing the real life story of someone they know may help them in their decision to continue swimming in college or provide insight to which school would be the best fit for them.
6. Don’t talk about negative things around younger swimmers.
Negativity spreads like wildfire. Because kids connect best with those of similar age and interests, sharing negative things will lead to adaptation of the same thoughts. For instance, don’t say that “this practice sucks and is a waste of time”, because there is always a point to the workout, and you can find at least one thing to work on each session. Avoid any word with negative connotations because the kids may repeat what you said to their friends and parents, making you and by association, your school, look bad.
7. Stay in the entire practice.
This one should be obvious; you don’t just get out early at college (unless necessary), so why would you do it at a club practice? You don’t get all of the benefits of a practice unless you do the entire practice. This again shows your coach that you care enough and respect them. Completion of an entire practice is something that can be done easily, but it’s up to you how well that practice goes.
8. Work hard and demonstrate a good work ethic.
Work as hard as you would if you were at school with your college coaches watching your every move. Show up and do the practice as it is written because the coach worked hard on it and deserves to see his/her practice completed. This shows that you respect the coach and what they had in mind for the workout on hand. This is also beneficial to your own swimming as the season goes forward. This gives you a chance to work on some little things that maybe you don’t focus a lot on at school. This is also a way to show younger swimmers that swimming well in practice is essential to success and is beneficial to their career as a whole. Coaches like when their swimmers work hard and are successful, which shows that they did something right along the way.
9. Bring them coffee in the morning.
Many coaches come in with coffee or another drink of their choice to an early morning workout. You could show them that you care by handing them a cup of coffee as they walk in the door for that morning’s practice. It is a simple gesture, but that is the beauty of it. It can simply be a way to show your coach that you appreciate the fact that they pulled themselves out of bed early in the morning to watch you and your teammates swim back and forth for a couple hours. It could show that you are thankful for their dedication to the sport and even to your success by showing up with a plan in mind for the day will hold.
All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.
Don Kimble thank you so much for everything .
Kelly Smith look who made the front of the article!
John Carroll!!! One of my former coaches at Wahoos! Awesome!
Paige Mitchell
Great article! So true!