Every year, I talk to a few people who say they want to coach swimming professionally.
Most of them have already been helping on deck and found out they enjoy it. They like the pool, the kids, the energy, and the problem-solving. They can picture themselves doing the work.
And I get it. Coaching is one of the best jobs I know. It’s also one of the hardest.
Before you get too far down the road, you should know what you’re signing up for.
The hours are long. The mornings are early. The weekends aren’t really yours. You’ll work many holidays. You’ll miss birthdays, weddings, family dinners, and plenty of normal things other people take for granted. And if we’re being honest, the pay usually does not match the work.
At a lot of clubs, especially smaller ones, a young head coach will make less than people in more traditional jobs in the same town while working far more nights and weekends. That’s not a complaint. It’s just the truth.
Even at the higher levels, there aren’t as many well-paying jobs as people think. There are some good jobs out there, but not many. Certainly not enough for everyone who’s talented, committed, and willing to work.
So that’s the first part. If that makes you pause, good. It should.
But it’s not the whole story, because the reasons people stay in coaching usually have very little to do with money, titles, or meet results.
What You Get Back
You get to be there when a young person figures out they can do something they once thought was impossible for them. That’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t coached.
You see a kid walk onto the deck unsure of themselves, scared of hard work, maybe a little lost. Then, over time, they change. Not all at once. Practice after practice. Set after set. One day they’re different. They’re tougher, more confident, and more responsible. They can handle disappointment.
And you guided that. That matters.
You also get a community. At first, it’s just the other coaches you see at meets. Then, over time, those people become friends. They become the ones you call when you’re stuck, frustrated, or trying to figure out what to do with a group that’s driving you crazy.
Some of the assistants you work with will become head coaches. Some of the kids you coach will become coaches themselves. Some will become parents and eventually bring their own children back to the pool. You start to realize the swimming world is smaller than it looks, and if you stay in it long enough, those relationships become one of the most valuable parts of the whole thing.
You also get the chance to spend a career getting better at something.
Coaching isn’t something you figure out in a few years and then repeat forever. If you’re doing it right, you’re still learning at year ten. You’re still stealing ideas at year twenty. You’re still watching other coaches run practice while thinking to yourself, “That’s so much better than how I do it.”
That’s one of the reasons GAINswim exists. It’s why we built the Master Path. It’s why Vern is still teaching. There’s always more to learn.
The sport keeps changing. The athletes change. Parents change. Clubs change. You change. And if you stay curious, you keep getting better. There aren’t many careers that offer that.
The Stuff Nobody Tells You
Here are a few things I wish someone had said to me when I first started thinking, “Maybe I want to be a coach.”
You’ll work most weekends. Not some weekends. Most of them. Meets are on weekends. Championship meets are on long weekends. Travel meets eat entire weeks. If you want a vacation, you’d better learn to plan for it early, and in swimming, that usually means August.
You’ll be asked to do jobs you were never trained to do. You’ll be part therapist, part parent, part manager, part strength coach, part recruiter, part event planner, part fundraiser, and part problem-solver for whatever random thing breaks that week. You will not be good at all of those things when you start. No one is. But the job will teach you.
You’ll deal with parents whose entire emotional world revolves around their child’s swimming. Some of them will be wonderful. Some will become lifelong friends. Some will test every bit of your patience. A few may try to get you fired. Most are not bad people. Most are scared, hopeful, confused, protective, and trying to do what they think is best for their kid. That doesn’t make every conversation easy, but it helps.
You’ll lose athletes. Some will quit, some will move, and some will go to the new hot club down the road. Some will leave for reasons you understand. Some will leave for reasons that make no sense to you at all. Early on, you’ll take it personally. Most coaches do. Eventually, you have to learn how to care deeply without letting every decision crush you. That’s harder than it sounds.
You’ll write bad workouts. Not once in a while. A lot. You’ll think something looks great on paper, and then the group will get in the water and show you very quickly that it doesn’t work. Wrong interval. Wrong order. Wrong energy system. Wrong day. That’s part of learning. Over time, you stop being proud of the workout before it happens and start paying more attention to what the swimmers actually do with it.
You’ll meet coaches who cut corners. Some will be dishonest. Some will be lazy. Some will be cruel. Some will still win. That can be hard to watch, but don’t let it change how you coach.
The longer you coach, the more you realize that how you get there matters. And you have to live with yourself when the meet is over.
Your body will have an opinion. Pool decks are brutal on your feet and back. Pools are loud. The air isn’t great. The hours are weird. You’ll stand more than you should, sleep less than you need, and drink too much coffee if you’re not careful. If coffee is the only thing you drink too much of, you’re lucky; a lot of coaches live “rough” away from the pool.
Take care of yourself. Build a physical practice, and pay attention to your own health before the job forces you to. The coaches who last aren’t always the best ones. A lot of the time, they’re the ones who figured out how to survive the lifestyle. They have hobbies and communities outside the pool that enrich their lives.
Still With Us?
So, if you still want to coach after all of that, good. The sport could use more people who understand what they’re signing up for.
But don’t do it because you think it’ll be easy. Don’t do it because you want to be important. Don’t do it because you like the idea of being in charge.
Do it because you like to serve. Do it because you’re willing to keep learning. Do it because helping young people grow is still one of the most worthwhile things a person can do.
And if that’s the kind of work you want, find other coaches who feel the same way. Not the loudest people on Instagram. Not the ones performing for attention. Find the coaches who are actually doing the work, telling the truth about it, and trying to get better year after year.
— Chris Webb
Director, GAINswim
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