A Letter to My College Coach
Dear Coach,
As athletes, we spend so much of our careers chasing measurable things.
We chase best times, national cuts, conference titles, All-American honors, and records. We learn to define success by numbers on a scoreboard and rankings on a psych sheet. For years, I thought those were the things I would remember most about my swimming career.
As I look back now, I realize I was wrong.
What I remember most is the people. And at the center of so many of those memories is you.
When I arrived on campus, I thought I was ready. I had spent years training, competing, and dreaming about swimming in college. What I did not realize was how much growing I still had left to do. College swimming was never just about swimming.
It was about learning how to live away from home for the first time. It was about balancing expectations, academics, relationships, and responsibilities. It was about discovering who I was when no one was there to make decisions for me. There were moments of excitement and accomplishment, but there were also moments of uncertainty, disappointment, loneliness, and doubt.
Through all of it, you were there.
Not always with a speech or an answer. Often, it was something much simpler. A conversation after practice. A reminder to keep perspective. A vote of confidence when my own confidence was difficult to find.
There is a unique role that college coaches play in the lives of their athletes. You see us during some of the most formative years of our lives. You witness our successes, but you also witness the moments we would rather forget. You see us after our best races and after our worst. You see us when we are confident and when we are questioning everything.
You challenged me to pursue excellence while reminding me that excellence and self-worth are not the same thing. You taught me that failure is not something to fear, but something to learn from. You showed me that resilience is built during difficult seasons, not successful ones.
Those lessons have followed me far beyond the pool.
Looking back, I realize some of the most important things you taught me had nothing to do with swimming. You taught accountability. You taught discipline. You taught consistency. You taught me how to lead when things were going well and how to respond when they were not.
Most importantly, you taught me that growth is rarely comfortable.
You challenged me to take ownership of my goals. You expected more from me than I sometimes expected from myself. At the time, there were days when that felt difficult. Now, I understand it was one of the greatest gifts you could have given me.
The confidence I carry today was not built from medals or podium finishes. It was built through years of learning how to handle adversity, uncertainty, and challenge. It was built through opportunities to fail, learn, and try again.
As athletes, we often assume our coaches will remember us because of our performances. We wonder if they will remember the championship races, the school records, or the points scored at a championship meet.
However, as former athletes, I think we begin to understand something different. The races eventually blur together.
The times become harder to recall.
Even the biggest moments begin to fade.
What remains is the impact people had on our lives.
Years from now, I may not remember every set we completed or every race plan we discussed. But I will remember feeling supported during difficult moments. I will remember being challenged to become better. I will remember having someone in my corner who believed I was capable of more.
I will remember the environment you created and the standards you upheld. I will remember the lessons that extended far beyond the pool deck.
But most importantly of all, I will remember how much you cared.
Swimming eventually ends for all of us. Every athlete touches the wall one final time. Yet the influence of a great coach continues long after the final race is over.
It lives on in the confidence they helped build, the values they helped shape, and the people they helped develop.
So thank you.
Thank you for the guidance, the patience, the honesty, and the belief.
Thank you for making a place far from home feel a little more like home.
And thank you for understanding that your greatest impact was never measured by a stopwatch. It was measured by the people who left your program better than when they arrived.
With gratitude,
A Former College Swimmer
Summer Finke is a regular contributor to Swimming World. A two-time qualifier for the United States Olympic Trials, she competed collegiately for North Carolina State University and was a multi-time NCAA Championships qualifier.
