Would you expect

Thanks everyone for your replies. I am still hoping the school will replace him and the assistant coach.

Sometimes it is difficult for a high school to get coaches. I've known new teachers who were hired only if they would accept a coaching position. I agree with pwb that you don't need to know how to swim to be a good coach. But, you did need to be willing to learn. My age group coach was not a swimmer but was trained as coach in other sports. He read and observed other swimmers and was great. If the coach is approached in a helpful manner, maybe there is hope. But if the coach feels threatened and gets defensive, it will be a bad year. The school may not be able to repleace him if there is no one else.

I agree with Betsy. There are very successful coaches in all sports, even at professional levels, who've never played the sport they're coaching. Still, I'd think that if this person has been coaching swimming for at least three years that they'd have learned about splits by now. But be careful what you wish for if you want the current coach replaced. You could end up with someone worse. Maybe they'll know more about coaching...but there might be "other" issues with the replacement. Laineybug...maybe it'd be worth it for you to establish a "coach the coach" relationship with this person. Maybe you can't volunteer to be at every practice, but if it's generally known that the person was never a swimmer...offer you assistance to help them understand some of these, and other nuances about the sport. Dan

IThere are very successful coaches in all sports, even at professional levels, who've never played the sport they're coaching. I think they'd be the exception rather than the rule though. Consider soccer in the US in the 1970s (before it exploded). While in college, I briefly (one season) coached a 13-14 boys team, but had never played soccer other than in P.E. I think I had one kid who had any soccer experience, and he had moved from an area with already established age group programs (ISTR Virginia). Today, I would be pretty surprised if someone coaching an age group or high school soccer team hadn't played the sport as a kid, at least in/through high school. I think the situation would be similar for swimming.

I don't live close enough to coach the coach. My daughter however, has offered every year to become a volunteer community coach and has been turned down with, "I don't need no help." Daughter's qualifications: She was one of Curt Myers' swimmers (Curt Myers as in Olympic coach and the father of Olympic gold medalist Angel Myers) Qualified for state championship. And I also agree you don't have to be a swimmer to coach swimming but you must know something and must be willing to learn about technique to pass it on.

Today, I would be pretty surprised if someone coaching an age group or high school soccer team hadn't played the sport as a kid, at least in/through high school. I think the situation would be similar for swimming. It all just depends on the school and the situation in that particular moment. My husband is a teacher. Early in his career, he coached JV basketball, volleyball and wrestling. He had wrestled in high school but he'd never played either of the other two sports outside a PE class and goofing off with friends. Those aren't unusual sports by any means, but his district required that all teams be coached by faculty members, no one on the faculty with experience in those sports was interested in those coaching positions, and he was the low man on the totem pole. In other words, he was completely unqualified but also in no position to refuse when the principal told him he needed to do the job. In his case, after a year of the basketball coaching gig, a more qualified teacher had a change of heart and the year after that a newer teacher agreed to take on volleyball. Thing is, coaching meant extra money. Not a lot, but some. And the principal knew nothing about volleyball, never went to the games...If my husband had really wanted to keep getting that extra pay, the principal wouldn't have thought twice about letting him keep that team, regardless of his lack of knowledge and experience. I'm sure that happens all the time with swim teams. Someone is assigned to coach almost out of desperation, the pay keeps them from wanting to shed the responsibility, inertia keeps them in the position.