Chris DeSantis Coaching

College swimmers may train throughout the year. That doesn’t necessarily mean they need to spend the entire year in one environment with one coaching staff.

Margo Geer questions the assumption that athletes must always remain on campus because their college coach is the only person who can help them improve.

Different coaches, environments and experiences can expose athletes to something they weren’t getting inside their usual bubble—and allow them to return renewed and ready to work.

This isn’t an argument against consistency. It’s an argument against assuming there is only one path to improvement.

Full conversation with Margo Geer on The Swim Brief.

Coaches often treat exhaustion as evidence of commitment.

If there is always another athlete to help, recruit to contact, or problem to solve, taking time for yourself can feel like you’re neglecting the team.

Margo Geer sees it differently.

Taking care of herself allows her to arrive at meets engaged, energetic, and prepared to lead. It also demonstrates to her athletes and staff that recovery isn’t something to feel guilty about.

It is part of sustaining high performance.

Full conversation with Margo Geer on The Swim Brief.

When Margo Geer became the head coach at Alabama at 28, plenty of people questioned whether she was ready.

But Margo’s years as an elite athlete had already taught her how to perform while other people doubted her—or actively wanted her to fail.

Her response wasn’t to convince everyone that they were wrong. It was to remain anchored to what she knew, what she valued, and why she had accepted the challenge.

“You can’t change other people’s views or opinions. Control what you can.”

Full conversation with Margo Geer on The Swim Brief.

Can coaches ask athletes to do what they won’t do themselves?

One thing Don Wagner said has been stuck in my head:

“I think you have to always be a good example.”

After 50 years of coaching, that’s still his standard.

It’s easy to think that once we’re no longer competing, our own fitness doesn’t matter.

I disagree.

Coaching is physically demanding. You’re on deck for hours. You’re making hundreds of decisions. You’re communicating, observing, solving problems, and setting the emotional tone for your athletes.

How you take care of yourself affects how well you coach.

Your athletes don’t expect you to swim their race.

But they do notice whether you’re living the standards you’re asking them to embrace.

What do you think? Does a coach’s own physical fitness matter?

🎙️ Full conversation with Olympic coach Don Wagner is available now on The Swim Brief.

Please help me Obi Wan, you're my only hope.

I asked Coach Don Wagner about the little things that stick with you over a 50 year career.

He told me a story about watching the best of our profession quietly doing the little things to keep it moving.

Listen to the full podcast with Don Wagner now on the Swim Brief.

Todd DeSorbo has won NCAA and guided Olympic gold medalists.

One thing he is absolutely known for not holding back his personality. One of the most interesting moments from my conversation with Todd DeSorbo wasn’t about swimming at all.

It was about leadership.

Todd said that if he couldn’t coach as himself, he knew two things would happen:

He wouldn’t enjoy coaching.

And he wouldn’t be successful.

That’s a lesson I think a lot of coaches wrestle with.

It’s easy to look at successful coaches and feel pressure to copy how they communicate, motivate, or lead.

But athletes usually know when someone is trying to be a version of someone else.

The goal isn’t to coach like Todd DeSorbo.

It’s to become the best version of the coach you already are.

🎙️ Full conversation with Todd DeSorbo is available now on The Swim Brief.

The athlete causing the biggest headache often gets the most attention.

That’s backward. Todd Desorbo found out the hard way.
He realized one athlete had so much influence over his emotions that it was affecting how he coached everyone else.

Eventually, he went to a sports psychologist (contact me if you want to do the same work)—not because of the athlete, but because of his own response.

It’s such an important reminder.

As coaches, we naturally fixate on what’s going wrong.

The one struggling athlete.

The one frustrating practice.

The one negative interaction.

Meanwhile, nineteen other athletes may be having a fantastic day.

Where your attention goes, your energy follows.

🎙️ Full conversation with Todd DeSorbo is available now on The Swim Brief.

Power rankings, guys with 1 of 1 names (I have never met another coach with their name). If I have met someone else with the same name as these guys I take no responsibility in that I have forgotten that you exist.