So, coaches are getting some bad press in a couple of other threads, so I thought it might be interesting to talk about who has really impressed us as a coach (masters or open) and what it was about that coach that was so good. Ok, I'll go first.
A fellow named Archie Mckinnon was my first coach in age group, when I was 7-9yrs old & was flat out the best communicator I have ever seen. He let us know why we were doing what we were doing, what we were going to do & consulted us frequently as to what we wanted to get from our swimming (us individually, not the parents). Sounds out of a modern textbook, right? This was 1959-62 I've never had a coach since who came close to him, which had a great deal to do with me leaving swimming when I was fourteen.
Parents
Former Member
My favorite of all time is David Radcliff. He was my age group coach as well as my HS swim and water polo coach. He was, first and foremost, passionate about aquatics and that passion was contagious. Secondly, he had the ability to make swimmers/players of all levels feel welcome and confident in their own ability to progress individually and contribute to a team effort. While he last coached me over 30 yrs ago, the life lessons he taught through athletics still live on as I pass them along to my own kids (who, coincidentally are at the same age that I was when I first started working with "Coach"). All of my teammates and I were lucky to have had him as a coach and role model.
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Former Member
My favorite of all time is David Radcliff. He was my age group coach as well as my HS swim and water polo coach. He was, first and foremost, passionate about aquatics and that passion was contagious. Secondly, he had the ability to make swimmers/players of all levels feel welcome and confident in their own ability to progress individually and contribute to a team effort. While he last coached me over 30 yrs ago, the life lessons he taught through athletics still live on as I pass them along to my own kids (who, coincidentally are at the same age that I was when I first started working with "Coach"). All of my teammates and I were lucky to have had him as a coach and role model.
