Yorktown Swim Club : Barracudas

College/Major
Wabash College - Psychology

Years in swimming (Swam for Yorktown)
As a swimmer - since 4th grade and am starting my
As a coach - 2 years

Favorite stroke to coach:
Breastroke. It is one of the hardest for kids to begin to learn as they start swimming. But as a breastroker myself, I find it the most enjoyable to coach. Also, when I see the kids finally learn it and do it well, that is a great feeling to know that they have succeeded.

Favorite stroke as a swimmer
Breastroke. Its been my stroke since freshmen year in high school and it has shown me the most success in my own career.

Best swimming moment as a swimmer
As a swimmer, there are many: getting second at state in a relay, winning conference in the 100 Breast, senior night during high school and college.

Best swimming moment as a coach
As a coach, it had to be last year when one of my littlest swimmers came up after swimming the breastroke for the first time and being able to swim it correctly and do so well for the first time. Watching him swim that stroke and do so well was an amazing feeling. But that is only one of MANY!

Coaching philosophy
As a coach just starting out, I am still developing my philosophy. But something I hold very dear to my heart that I have been taught by my own coaches, is that the most important thing is to have fun. Swimming is a sport where sometimes it is easy to loose sight of the fun. But if I can help the kids have fun and get better, by working on drills and a some hard work, than I have done my job.

I taught the 8-U last year and that was amazing. The kids were so much fun and always made me laugh when I came in early for practice. They were always willing to work hard and yet wanted to be playful and energetic, which is always fun for me. This year, and from now on, I will be coaching the 9-10 group, so this year they will be the same kids that I coached last year. I look forward to laughing and enjoying every practice with them just like I did before.

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