Why I coach

 

Wherever I go, they follow.  I round the corner, and there they are. I sit; they sit. I stand; they stand. They pull me and tug at my arms. They jump on my back. If I stop suddenly, they run into me. Irritating to some? Maybe.  A bother to me? Never. These are the kids I coach. These are the kids I teach. Swimming was once about me. I realize now that what has kept me in this chlorine-soaked environment is them.  

            My love for swimming began when I turned 8 years old. I took to the water quickly, took lessons, jumped levels; I loved the water.  I joined a summer swim team. I modeled myself after the older kids, the seasoned, devoted swimmers that came back summer after summer, the teenage coaches. I wanted to be them. I knew one day I would. With all my ribbons, my spot on the high school team, my place as an assistant swim coach, I realized that slowly I had become that person. Whether I knew it or not, kids looked up to me. Parents doted on me about how much their kids wanted to be me. 

            I loved it. I loved all of it. But what was the most satisfying, the most rewarding, the best feeling I have ever felt on the pool deck? It wasn't when I jumped out of the pool to have the timer tell me that I had just swam a personal best in breaststroke. It was another moment, during that same meet that a little kid, whom I had lessoned multiple times, ran up to me, bursting with excitement to tell me his new time. He shouted his personal best and with all sincerity, looked up at me with wide eyes and said the next few words I'll never forget: "Christopher, my two favorite swimmers are Ryan Lochte and you." I never imagined that this small child's excitement would pinnacle my own accomplishments, that this could be more fulfilling than being voted captain of my high school swim team. It suddenly wasn’t about me anymore.  

            This feeling would somehow take precedence over my own achievements. This community of summer swimmers, all 200 of them, would become family to me for 3 months of the year. This now seems normal. It is my comfort place. I want to see these swimmers evolve into that 11-12 year old, the 13-14 year old and of course, the idolized 15-18 year old.  I now am that watchful parent who takes pride; somehow I am  responsible for every little step and achievement in this child.

            Swimming has become who I am and who I strive to be. Once I thought it was about the times, the seconds, the milliseconds. Now I realize what drew me in were the families, the community, the faces that came back summer after summer and that amazing feeling of accomplishment. I helped a child feel better about himself. I helped him build his self esteem through swimming.  And, of course, I hope I inspired a few future coaches whose whistle will take the place of the pied piper's horn and won’t mind the little feet that follow.