Why We Coach

Hi Don,

I have been following what you guys have been doing at some of your meets and it seems like you have a lot of people doing some great stuff over in California! I was so impressed with how everyone swam at the Super League meet in Davis especially!

Just finished my first season of college swimming, which is crazy because I feel like I was just swimming at RESLs. I had some doubts about Dartmouth initially, but I am certain I am at the right place. I like my coaches (although full disclosure you and Ken were a little more fun) and I love my teammates. My season didn’t end as well as I had hoped; unfortunately I got very sick and was unable to swim for a lot of the month prior to my meet.

This reminded me of your Michael Phelps analogy with the thimble and the ocean where you build a cup during the season and during taper you fill the cup. I was really frustrated because I had worked really hard this season to build a cup, but was unable to fill it. Although I still had some fun at the meet and I loved watching my friends do so well, I didn’t go to the meet just to have fun.

College swimming is hard because not swimming well is no longer a personal problem, it also hurts your teammates and all the hard work they did. I was seeded in the top 8 for the 50 free, but instead placed 20th. We only beat Columbia by a few points, and the rest of the meet I couldn’t stop thinking that if we lost to Columbia, had I placed 8th instead of 20th we would have beaten them.

I was thinking about all this on the bus ride back from Princeton when I got a text from someone from my high school asking when I knew I wanted to swim in college. And to be completely honest, at that point I wasn’t sure if I was glad I was swimming in college. Staying up until one studying for midterms and writing papers (yes I actually do homework here, shocking I know), only to wake up at six to walk to practice in negative five degree weather is hard. Swimming/lifting four hours a day almost every day is exhausting. All of this to add 2 seconds in a 200?

When exactly did I decide to do this?  Then I realized I never decided, the thought of not swimming in college just never even occurred to me.

I joined North Bay my sophomore year because I wanted to see where swimming would take me. Swimming has taken me to Clovis many, many times, Las Vegas, Seattle, and Orlando. It was like when Ken asked if I wanted to go Orlando for relays my junior year. It never crossed my mind to not go because I wanted to see what I could do in Orlando.

When swimming took me to Dartmouth, I didn’t go because I wanted to go to Dartmouth; I went because I wanted to see what I could do there. I’m not sure what else I want to get out of swimming, but I want to continue to see where it will take me. My team doesn’t have a competitive spring training program, but I have talked to some girls on my team and my coaches about doing some long course training with hopes of giving myself a chance of qualifying for Olympic trials in the next two years. I have no idea how realistic this is, but two years ago I would have never believed swimming would take me this far, so I am optimistic for what the next two years will bring.

Thank you to both you and Ken for all you have done to help me get here, and I wish you best of luck with your upcoming meets.

Thanks, Zoe

P.S. This is for Ken too but I don’t have his email for some reason.

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