By: Ryan Kwong

 

Dan Cole, the head coach of Willamalane Swim Club sits by the pool watching over his oldest group of swimmers take on the pool. Monday through Friday Cole walks into Willamalane Park Swim Center with his workouts and ready to coach. Everyday Cole writes a different workout. He likes to focus on different things during practice, he has variations of drills, sprints, strokes, or distance. Some days take longer to write up than others if he wants to write multiple versions of practice to account for different swimming archetypes. Before he lets his swimmers jump into the pool, Cole also likes to do around 30 minutes of dryland training to start. At times if the weather is nice they will go outside and play Ultimate Frisbee.

Cole didn’t always see himself as a coach though. In college, he had gotten his Masters in History and Political Geography with his intention to get a PHD and teach in college. Cole originally started to coach though after his Sophomore year of college in 1961. He got offered a summer coaching job for the team he used to swim for in Idaho.  After Cole got his Master’s degree in 1966 he said “I was really tired of going to school…and the Reedsport, Oregon job came open. So, I though I’d go work for 2-3 years make some money and go back to school.” After three years at Reedsport, Cole went on to coach Willamalane Swim Club for 12 years before he started coaching at the University of Oregon when they had a swim team. After he coached at the University of Oregon he coached at the Eugene Y for 10 more years before coming back to coach at Willamalane.

Cole also coaches with one of his children. His son Taylor is the novice coach for Willamalane Swim Club. Taylor considers Cole as one of his heroes, he really appreciates everything about his dad. “People that coach have a certain enjoyment in others success and enjoyment in the relationships that get built through coaching….Dan looks at some of his swimmers like his own kids.” Said Taylor when asked about how Cole became a coach. Cole’s influence on Taylor is also present in his coaching. Taylor explained that their coaching styles are very similar “pretty disciplined, pretty strict, not afraid to raise voice” they have even drawn comparisons that they walk similar to each other. Cole thinks everyone should have the ability to learn to swim. Taylor says it’s about helping children not just to help them swim but to be human beings.