I’ll Know When They’re Thirty

“How are they doing, Coach?”

It is the most frequent question we are asked as coaches, and it is the most difficult to answer.

Some people ask it as a courtesy, or as a way to strike up conversation, and they are looking for an answer no deeper than, “they are doing well.” In fact, no one ever wants to hear if your athletes are not doing well, or discuss what you plan to do about it, even though these are some of the most important conversations a coach can have with another human being.

Others ask it in pursuit of specific performance data because that is what speaks to them. When it comes to reporting along those lines with swimming, however, I have found it to be pointless because telling the average human being that your thirteen-year-old male swimmer completed 100 yards of Freestyle in less than :50 seconds means nothing. They often follow this news with questions such as, “is that fast enough to go to the Olympics?” As a swimmer, you just want to smack your forehead with the palm of your hand and walk away.

Here is what I want to say whenever I am asked this question: I’ll know when they’re 30. I will know how well they have absorbed the lessons learned in competitive sports when they reach 30 years of age, and I’ll know how well I’ve done as their coach, too.