I love the stories about who motivated you to start swimming. They're usually great stories. Let me start by telling you mine.
I was with about 7yrs. old and at a 20yd indoor Grand Rapids West YMCA pool, during a "free swim".
The lifeguard was the YMCA Director named Tom (about 25 or so at the time). I knew how to do the breaststroke pretty good for no formal coaching (my older brother swam competitively). It was a Saturday and there were about twenty screaming kids in the pool until Tom blew his whistle. He yelled at everyone to get out of the water and you could hear a pin drop (someone had to be in trouble). He pointed at me and told me to come over and see him. I thought I would pee right there. I didn't do anything anyway, I told myself, and he shouldn't be yelling at people so loud, I thought. I was thinking of what I might have done in the last few minutes as I walked slowly his way until I gulped and stood silent waiting for him to say something. He said to everyone, "You're a pretty fast swimmer and I want to race you across the pool". I was looking at him as everyone of the kids started hooting and hollering. "Well" he said, "Let's go". He told me that we'd be doing the breaststroke. I wanted to race, I wanted to win, even if he was bigger. When he said go, I raced and he sure looked like he was going as fast as he could, and ---- I won. He looked exhausted after that long 20 yard swim, I know I was really tired but I beat him fair and square. He spent about five minutes explaining that someone as fast as me should be on the YMCA swimming team. I couldn't believe it, he wanted me to join the team, heck, I didn't even know they had a team. Well, I almost hyperventilated as I told my mom and dad that I wanted to be on the swim team because I'm the fastest little swimmer that coach had ever seen. I've been swimming and coaching (I wanted to be a coach like him) ever since.
To this day, that one man changed my life by doing something I try to do as much as possible and that's; find something good someone's doing and, only if it's sincere, lavish as much praise as possible onto that someone. Tom did it for me and I hope I can keep doing it for other people and swimmers, young and old. He was a master at making people feel like a million bucks.
Let's hear your story. Coach T.
Parents
Former Member
My 1st summer league coach Debbie Bowden. Her patience, knowledge and dedication to the sport took me from hardly making it across the pool (I slept for 3 hours after my first summer league practice at age 7) to swimming all four strokes proficiently. Debbie's professionalism, patience, and love of the sport got me hooked. She lived what she preached. I'll never forget her. She will "go to heaven with her shoes on" for being so patient in teaching me all the fundamentals of each stroke. I don't know how she did it!!
My favorite age group coach David Ellwanger kept me swimming through those tough age group years. I'll never forget my first age group practice where I went from being the fastest swimmer in the "Silver" group to being the slowest swimmer in Age Group I. I was getting lapped - creamed basically - my first practice - what a shocker! His encouraging, motivational words to me got me through that first practice and I never looked back. He introduced me to the world of positive thinking and to the power that we all hold within ourselves and within our minds. He too lived what he preached on the deck, in the pool, and in his life. He was the best swim coach and life teacher that I ever had the honor of knowing. It didn't hurt that he also happened to look like Superman - and he still does, even at 50+ yrs! :notworthy:
My 1st summer league coach Debbie Bowden. Her patience, knowledge and dedication to the sport took me from hardly making it across the pool (I slept for 3 hours after my first summer league practice at age 7) to swimming all four strokes proficiently. Debbie's professionalism, patience, and love of the sport got me hooked. She lived what she preached. I'll never forget her. She will "go to heaven with her shoes on" for being so patient in teaching me all the fundamentals of each stroke. I don't know how she did it!!
My favorite age group coach David Ellwanger kept me swimming through those tough age group years. I'll never forget my first age group practice where I went from being the fastest swimmer in the "Silver" group to being the slowest swimmer in Age Group I. I was getting lapped - creamed basically - my first practice - what a shocker! His encouraging, motivational words to me got me through that first practice and I never looked back. He introduced me to the world of positive thinking and to the power that we all hold within ourselves and within our minds. He too lived what he preached on the deck, in the pool, and in his life. He was the best swim coach and life teacher that I ever had the honor of knowing. It didn't hurt that he also happened to look like Superman - and he still does, even at 50+ yrs! :notworthy:
