Coach not Instructor
When I tell people that I am a swim coach, most immediately assume that I work for a swim team. They imagine me standing at the edge of the pool with a timer in hand, barking out orders to a full lane of thrashing swimmers. Sometimes, that’s the case – our upper levels at Tiburon mimic swim team prep. I don’t have a timer, but I do walk along the edge of the pool shouting KICK! KICK! KICK! When I explain that I spend most of my day in the pool with babies, toddlers, and K-5 kids splashing me in the face and crawling on my back, I usually get a furrowed brow. “Oh, so you mean you’re a swim instructor?” Well, kind of.
I do teach kids how to swim. I teach them how to hold and blow out their breath, how to fold and straighten their legs, how to catch and release the water with their hands. I teach kids how to float on their back when they get tired and how to climb out after they jump – or fall – into water too deep to stand in. Once they’re able to safely navigate the water on their own, I show them how to wiggle like dolphins, kick like frogs, soar through the pool like butterflies. Freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly – yes, I instruct these strokes, I develop these technical skills. Swim instruction is a part of my job.
The difference between a swim instructor and a coach is nuanced, but it comes down to a difference in focus. An instructor’s focus is to teach skills. In my past experience as just a swim instructor, I led groups of kids with varying abilities, personalities, and levels of confidence through a standardized curriculum – in life jackets. Did they learn how to scoop the water, wiggle their legs, and blow bubbles at the surface of the water? Sure! But without addressing the underlying emotional obstacle in the way of each kid swimming independently, I couldn’t prepare them for the day they fell into the pool without their emotional support floaties.
The focus of a coach is what is going on in their swimmer’s mind, not just their limbs. Coaches build relationships with their swimmers by forging connections and earning trust. As a coach, I think about what each kid needs from me emotionally; do they need reassurance or discipline? Do they need novelty or a strict routine? Should I be loud and funny, or quiet and calm? At any moment, my swimmer’s needs can shift. Coaches look at each child as a whole. We observe behavior, intuit needs, challenge abilities, and adapt our approach. It’s a dynamic and emotionally laborious process – and we don’t rely on floaties.
The most important part of my job is not teaching a perfect side-breath; it’s teaching kids that they are able to do hard things. At Tiburon, we believe that connection is key, fun is essential, and trust is everything. If I’ve shown a kid how to kick but I haven’t shown them how to trust themselves, I’ve failed. We are not here to build up future Olympians – although our upper-level classes could give your kids a leg up. We are here to foster resilience, confidence, security and independence. We are here to make kids laugh five seconds after they’ve cried and touch the bottom of the pool when they protest that it’s too deep. We show kids how to confront their fears. We push kids past their perceived limitations. We believe in them more than they believe in themselves until they, too, believe.
This is the magic that makes us coaches; we teach your kids how to be brave.