S3-E4 - COACH - CHANGE THE SPORT - LEAD THE WAY!

Coaches can help reverse competitive swimming participation declines by making the sport more flexible, engaging, and sustainable for athletes, families, and coaches.

Participation Trends

•Glenn and Wayne discussed declining competitive swimming participation, especially among ages 11–12 and 15–16, while learn-to-swim, wellness, fitness, and masters participation are growing.

•Contributing pressures include competing sports, screens and gaming, busy parents, traffic, limited pool space, coach shortages, demanding schedules, and lengthy competition formats.

•The issues are global and also appear in hockey, rugby, soccer, and other sports; COVID-19 accelerated trends that were already underway.

Coaching Priorities

•Coaches should prioritize joy, relationships, belonging, and lifelong benefits alongside performance. Helping a swimmer overcome fear of water or experience a small breakthrough can be as meaningful as improving an elite athlete by three-tenths of a second.•Hard work and high standards remain important, but coaches can deliver them through encouragement, creativity, relevant communication, and engaging challenges rather than yelling or creating a negative environment.

•Programs should acknowledge athletes as whole people with school, jobs, family responsibilities, friendships, and other interests. Flexible attendance and competition options may improve retention.

Questions Ahead

•How can clubs redesign practices with dryland, varied groupings, and more engaging activities?

•How can competitions reduce waiting, simplify participation, and provide a better family experience?

•What will coaches change this season to improve athlete and personal well-being while sustaining performance?

•How should swimming respond to the influence of social media, gaming, and screens?

A future episode will examine this with a guest who holds a PhD in social media and children.