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07/14/2016 12:00 AMRob Bouchey has helped many young swimmers along Connecticut’s shoreline and that number will continue growing now that Rob has signed up to coach another local team.
Rob, a Willimantic resident, has been a swim coach since 2000 and is presently the head coach for the girls’ swimming and diving squad at Old Lyme High School. He’s also an assistant coach for a group known as Team of One that features boys’ swimmers from Valley Regional, Old Saybrook, and Old Lyme, which don’t have official teams at the high school level. Now, Rob is ready to make a splash on the youth circuit as he’s the new coach of the swimming team at the Old Saybrook Racquet Club (OSRC).
“Members of the team that also swam with a year-round club team I coach mentioned that their coach was stepping down and that they were looking for a new head coach,” says Rob. “From there, I sent my résumé in, met with some board members, and then accepted the position.”
Rob realizes there’s a great deal of responsibility involved with coaching youngsters who are in the early stages of their swimming careers. Rob feels it’s important to maintain an enjoyable atmosphere, while simultaneously stressing the significance of showing accountability.
“It’s important to keep everything fun, especially with summer swimming. From there, I make sure to instill messages about self-responsibility and self-discipline,” Rob says. “I want them to own their performances as they go along. It all helps towards the most fun and success for them.”
Rob also knows that he plays an integral role in helping his athletes reach new personal-best times or overcome certain obstacles. Seeing them experience those triumphant moments makes the effort all the more rewarding for Rob.
“Certainly, being a part of the accomplishments from them is great. The accomplishments are measured by the goals they set with their coaches and so to be a part of that is exciting,” he says. “I’m a competitive person, so the competition of it all drives me, too.”
Rob’s coaching experience has seen him work with people of all different ages and various motivations and so he’s guides them toward their targets in a variety of manners.
“It’s all about the continued improvement of skills with swimming. It’s a critical life skill, especially in the shoreline community,” says Rob. “It’s a matter of teaching and training, all the way down to a certain technique, training style, or even overcoming certain fears.”
Fellow OSRC colleague Ruthanne Rothman feels ecstatic about Rob joining the organization based on the wealth of knowledge and experience that he brings to the pool.
“We are very excited to have Rob take over our swim team program at OSRC. We look to Rob to continue the traditions of our family-oriented swim team, while introducing them to new training techniques,” says Rothman. “We are very excited about his wealth of experience and the possibility he brings for new programming in the future in master’s swimming, water aerobics, private swimming lessons, and more. Rob came into the job with existing relationships with some of our high school swimmers and we look forward to him building new relationships with the younger swimmers.”
In terms of his new team, Rob would like the club to pool together some more resources in order to foster the program’s growth on the competitive level. More important, though, Rob wants to see the people on his team mature both as athletes and young adults.
“My objective is to grow the team because it’s a positive thing for the team and also the community. We are one of the smaller teams, but as we can grow the team and the skill levels of the kids, we can help them be more successful and move up in the league rankings,” Rob says. “There are different aspirations for kids with how high they want to place, but we have an upward trend here, and I’m happy to build on that.”