Courtesy of Kevin Pierce. Follow Kevin on SubStack here.
Leadership on a swim team isn’t about having the fastest time or the most accolades. It’s about influence. It’s about being the one who shows up early, stays late, encourages the teammate who just missed their cut, and holds the standard high even when no one else is watching. The best leaders in the pool don’t just perform—they transform the atmosphere around them.
But here’s the truth: none of that happens without discomfort.
Discomfort is the catalyst for growth. It’s the key ingredient that most young athletes either avoid—or misunderstand. And yet, the swimmers who go the furthest in the pool and in life are the ones who learn to lean into it rather than shy away. They don’t wait until they feel ready; they act, knowing that leadership requires risk, vulnerability, and a willingness to face the unknown.
Ask any great swimmer, and they’ll tell you that progress rarely feels comfortable. In fact, the very nature of swimming is built on discomfort. You train in silence with nothing but your breath and your thoughts. You stare at a black line for hours. You learn to love the burn in your legs and the pressure in your chest because those sensations signal that you’re pushing boundaries.
But physical discomfort is only one side of the coin. The deeper challenge—and the one that separates leaders from followers—is emotional discomfort: speaking up when the team energy is low, addressing a teammate who’s cutting corners, leading a warmup when you’re unsure of what to say, or trying something new and risking failure in front of your peers.
Those moments are where leadership is forged.
One of the most powerful ideas I introduce to swimmers is the “stretch zone.” It’s not the comfort zone, where everything is predictable, and you feel in control. And it’s not the panic zone, where you feel overwhelmed, anxious, or shut down. The stretch zone lives in between. It’s where you’re challenged—but supported. Pushed—but not paralyzed. In the stretch zone, discomfort isn’t dangerous; it’s developmental.
I’ve seen the stretch zone at work through swimmers like Andre. In the water, he had talent. He was consistent in practice, smart about his races, and always brought effort. But outside the water, he held back. He was quiet in team huddles, hesitant to speak in group settings, and unsure of what it meant to lead.
When I challenged him to lead warmups one week, he nodded, but I could tell it was uncomfortable. That was the point. He didn’t need to be perfect—he needed to practice. He stumbled a bit on the first day, unsure of what to say. But his teammates followed. By the second week, he was checking in with others about their goals. A few weeks later, he led a pre-meet team talk. It wasn’t flashy, but it was real—and it mattered.
By the end of the season, Andre wasn’t just swimming well—he was leading. And not because he transformed into a different person. He simply stepped into the stretch zone over and over again until it became familiar territory. His leadership didn’t come from being the loudest voice on the deck. It came from showing up consistently, embracing challenges, and modeling the kind of humility, courage, and work ethic that inspire others.
As coaches, we can’t force leadership—but we can cultivate it. That starts by creating an environment where discomfort is normalized, not avoided. Where it’s okay to fail, to mess up, to try something new and not get it right the first time. We have to move beyond just preparing swimmers for races—we need to prepare them for real life.
That means celebrating the effort to lead, even when it’s awkward. It means pulling swimmers aside after tough moments and helping them reflect. It means helping them see that the nerves they feel before speaking in front of the team are the exact same nerves they’ll one day feel before giving a presentation in college or walking into a job interview. If they learn to push through it in this context, they’ll carry that strength everywhere.
Discomfort builds self-awareness. It builds resilience. It teaches swimmers how to adapt, how to grow, how to lead with empathy and strength. Those are the qualities that last long after the stopwatch stops.
Leadership moments are everywhere on a swim team, but they don’t always look big. Sometimes they’re found in the swimmer who steps out of their lane to congratulate a competitor. In the athlete who notices someone struggling and quietly offers encouragement. In the teammate who holds their lane accountable when effort starts slipping. These are the micro-moments that add up to a culture of excellence.
And it all starts with a willingness to get uncomfortable.
The swimmer who volunteers to do something new, who risks being vulnerable, who tries to make an impact even if they’re unsure how—that’s the one who’s leading. Not someday. Not when they’re named captain. Right now.
Because leadership isn’t a title. It’s a mindset. And the best swimmers don’t wait to feel ready. They step up, step out, and step into the stretch zone again and again—knowing that discomfort isn’t the enemy. It’s the beginning of greatness.
ABOUT KEVIN PIERCE
Kevin Pierce is a dedicated high school swim coach, leadership consultant, and advocate for athlete development. As the head coach of the Ridley High School boys’ swim team (Folsom, Pa), he has a passion for helping young swimmers reach their full potential, both in and out of the water. With years of experience in coaching, mentoring, and program development, Kevin specializes in leadership training, team culture, and athlete motivation.
Beyond the pool deck, Kevin is the founder of Green Mystique Leadership Consulting, where he works with youth and high school athletes to develop leadership skills that extend beyond sports. He is also the author of Leo The Lion’s Great Adventure, a children’s book that teaches leadership lessons through storytelling.
Kevin contributes to SwimSwam with insightful articles on high school swimming, leadership in sports, and strategies for fostering a winning team culture. His expertise in balancing athletic performance with leadership development makes him a valuable voice in the swimming community.
- Instagram – CoachKevinPierce
- Website – CoachKevinPierce.com
- X – kevpierce14
- Substack – https://kevinpierce.
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Great article with which to start the season. Thank you!