By Colin Dacey

When I first joined my pool, I was scared. A new place, and new people. I will never forget the first time I met Coach Mike. At the time, Mike had been coaching at Southampton for around twenty years, and every person that came on the swim team, he knew. Anyone from the little kids who didn’t swim in the meets, to the fastest seniors. Coach Mike helped me understand who I wanted to be at the pool: a leader.
The past few years, I’ve strived to lead, whether it was in sports, at the pool, or in the classroom. Not everyone has a god given ability, I’m not sure anyone does, but it is something that can be developed over time. I wasn’t always a leader, I wasn’t always a swimmer, and I wasn’t always a kid that people look up to. Most likely, someone that you look up to wasn’t born with leadership qualities, but saw people that were and decided that that was who they wanted to be. One day you’re a little kid hopping in a crisp sixty degree pool, and the next you’re coaching all those kids just like you.

This past summer, I was asked to coach the Mini Mites at my pool, Southampton Recreation Association’s, swim practices. The Mini Mites are a group of swimmers with less experience than the average 8 and under. These kids can range anywhere from just being able to swim freestyle to learning how to float and swim at the same time. The coaches normally have a group of qualified, responsible swimmers to help the kids learn.  The coaches wouldn’t just treat  them the same way that they did the 13 year olds, they chose us to lead because we have been in their position before. 

I remember one of the kids that I coached very well; his name was Issac. He was swimming for the first time competitively and was only five years old. Now, Issac wasn’t the most focused guy. He kept making brief anecdotes about how his dad had taught him everything he needed to know about swimming. He really reminded me of myself when I was younger. I was timid, but confident. I think that’s a good combination to have. It’s good to be shy and conservative, but also being able to express the mind and body freely. One of the many great qualities of a leader is the ability to understand the people around you. I understood what Issac was feeling. I understood because I was like him not too long ago. I started swimming around that age, and I will tell you that being thrown in a pool with a bunch of randos is a strange feeling. But with the right coach and motivation, anyone can achieve what they want.

Coach Mike didn’t just coach from the deck. He was in the pool with the kids that needed the most help. When he had watched all the kids grow and saw they did not need him, he proudly watched from the diving blocks, like a dad watching his kids. Not many people take a sensitive approach to coaching, but it’s actually one of the most effective ways to teach and to lead. Not having the people you are coaching under massive amounts of stress promotes a comfortable environment and a place that people want to improve. The way that I wanted to lead Issac was the way that Coach Mike led me. He made me comfortable. I went from a scared little kid getting in that pool for the first time to a coach helping kids that are just like a younger me. 

I taught Issac a specific drill that helped him a lot. One that Coach Mike taught me. It’s a simple, fundamental drill, and when mastered can improve the speed and technique of a swimmer greatly. I asked him to hold out a kick board in front of him and kick his way over to me. I wasn’t too far, probably only 10 meters or so. On his first try he got to me, but it took a solid 30 seconds. He learned quickly. I would say as fast as I did when I was learning. I taught him the way that I knew, making him feel respected, not pressuring him, the Coach Mike way. By the end of the swim season he had not quite mastered the drill, but he improved majorly. There was one day where he walked up to me and handed me a coloring poster that had been fully filled out by Issac himself. A gift, the first physical one I had gotten from Issac. It was a Spiderman poster. Sure, maybe he didn’t stay inside the lines, but that meant a lot to me. It was how I knew I’d succeeded as a coach and as a leader.    

Looking back, I felt that I made a connection to Issac, not just being his coach, but being his friend. Learning what people are feeling or how their lives are going makes it easier to approach them. It helps you help them. To close, I want to quote John Wooden, “Bad coaching comes from the ego. Good coaching comes from the heart.” Being a passionate coach, like myself and Coach Mike, will always inspire people to do their best, or to become a leader of their own.