A Tale of Two Sports: The Journey of a Track and Field Olympic Trials Qualifier Turned Swim Coach
Veronica Williams, the former head coach of the Gary West Side High School swim program in Gary, Indiana, has a coaching journey that is as unique as it is inspiring. Her story is a testament to how embracing new challenges and thinking outside the box can lead to unexpected and rewarding outcomes. However, what makes her story truly remarkable is that her passion for swimming was ignited by another sport: track and field.
Before Williams transitioned to coaching swimming, she devoted her life to running. At just 17 years old, Williams was the fastest high school track runner in the nation. She competed in a prestigious meet between the United States and Russia, winning a gold and silver medal, and dominated at the Junior Olympics in 1973, where she won three gold medals, becoming the first female to achieve such a feat.
With a promising track record, Williams took her talents to Texas Southern University, initially specializing in the sprint events before becoming a 400-meter runner. Her talents eventually led her to the pinnacle of her track career, and at 19, she competed in the 400-meter dash at the 1976 U.S. Olympic Trials at the legendary Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
However, things did not go as planned for the young hopeful at the nation’s biggest track meet. Williams eased through the heats and semifinals but ended up placing seventh in the final, narrowly missing a spot on the Olympic team. This disappointment marked a significant turning point in her athletic career, setting the stage for her future endeavors.
The transition from track star to head swim coach at Gary West Side High School was a major change for Williams. Despite having no prior swim coaching experience, she took the job because of her degree in physical education and childhood swim lessons.
“Well, when I got my physical education degree, we had to take swimming. The majority of us as physical education majors, are supposed to know how to swim, but some physical education majors didn’t know how to swim. I already knew how to swim because my mother put me in swimming when I was eight,” she said.
Though limited, Williams’ background in swimming provided a solid foundation for coaching, but nothing could prepare her for the challenge of building a swim team from the ground up. Even more daunting was the fact that her new swimmers had no experience in the sport.
“When I got my swimmers, they did not have a clue about (swimming). They wanted to swim, but they didn’t know how to swim.”
Faced with this challenge, Williams had to get creative. She relied on her own familiarity with swimming to teach her swimmers the basics. Initially, she demonstrated and taught each of the strokes, but she soon discovered a new approach by drawing parallels between swimming and track.
“In order to advance and get what I needed out of it, I taught those kids how to run track but do it with swimming,” said Williams. “The people that did the (500-yard freestyle), that was like the two-mile. Those that were sprinters, that was like the (100-meter dash). I would train them in that kind of capacity to give them the ability to stay strong.”
This unique approach allowed Williams to see swimming through a different lens and apply her track training methods to the pool. This shift in thinking simplified her coaching methods and helped her better understand the training required for her team. It also allowed her to tailor practices to meet the specific needs of her swimmers, leading to significant improvements.
“That was really a plus for me, because every time I got some kids, they didn’t know about swimming at all,” she said. “I got (the swimmers) hungry enough to want to swim, and we grew from one phase to another phase, and we just eventually got better and better and better.”
Under her innovative coaching style, Williams’ swimmers began to improve drastically. Her team soon became competitive in high school conference and sectional meets, earning praise from other coaches for her team’s remarkable progress.
“I went to conference, and I placed, and I got to sectionals with my boys,” said Williams. “So that was a plus for me. Then, the next year, we beat everyone around us. The coach of one of the teams said to me, ‘I commend you on your performance on these kids because I’ve never seen them swim like that.’ I said, ‘I just trained them like track.’”
Williams’ switch to swimming after being a stellar track athlete was not easy. From dominating on the track to starting from scratch as a swim coach, her experiences offer valuable lessons to other athletes facing challenges. Reflecting on her journey, Williams conveys a clear message rooted in resilience and having faith in one’s abilities.
“I would tell them it’s not time to throw in the towel, but it’s time to get that towel out, ring it out, let it dry, put it back on, and go at it again,” said Williams. “Let’s not give up and say, well, I’m nothing because you’re always something. Everything is a test of life, and through life, take your test. Sometimes, we may not pass our tests, but sometimes, we just keep going. Eventually, if you stand the test and have faith and believe, all things are possible, you will eventually pass the test with 100%, and you shall make it.”
Williams resigned from her position at Gary West Side High School in early 2024, but her coaching career is far from over. She is currently the head coach of both the boys and girls cross country and track and field programs at Andrean High School in Merrillville, Indiana, rekindling her love for running. Her experiences have taught her valuable life lessons that she will carry throughout the rest of her coaching career, but one lesson stands out above all.
“Even though I can’t see (victory) with a visual eye, a binocular eye will show you everything,” said Williams. “You miss everything with the visual eye, but if you have binoculars and you put them on, you can see everything that you need to see. So the thing that I’ve learned is: By faith, I throw in the net, and I can continually pull up victory. And that’s what I’ve learned through all of my adversities and setbacks in life. But by faith, I’m going to pull up victory every time.”