Swimming … What I Know Now

Coaches, athletes and officials should never underestimate the power and influence kindness can be for others, especially when we truly never know what an individual may be going through.

I never knew that when I jumped into the pool for the first time at age 5 that swimming would have such a profound and lifelong impact on me.

It turns out swimming was the vehicle to help me overcome obstacles in my rebellious teen years. It gave me the opportunity to swim in college and obtain a teaching degree.

Swimming also gave me the privilege of coaching both at the club and high school levels, and it has taught me to be a better dad and human. 

Once the chlorine is infused in your blood, it's hard to let it go. Today I enjoy volunteering my time officiating from the LSC up through the national level. However, I don’t think I truly understood what swimming could do until my former coaching colleague and I received an email from one of our former swimmers a few days ago.