News at Buckley

Q&A with New Swim Team Head Coach Juliet Suess

As Buckley’s swim team prepares to dive in for the start of the season, practices are in full swing. Head Coach Juliet Suess is bringing a new coaching style that encourages the strengthening of athletes’ minds and bodies.
To start the season, Suess encouraged students to read by Schuyler Bailar – a coming-of-age story about a teen navigating gender identity and a new swim team. 
 
Why did you choose this book for students to read for the swim team? 
I chose [this book] because Schuyler Bailar is a role model in so many ways and [it’s a way] to reckon with the past and present to bring inclusion by trying to make it fun. We have to consider who is on our team… and just open our eyes to the possibilities of the world and see things in new ways. 
 
How are you incorporating this novel into the philosophy of the swim team this season?
Some of the things we’ve already done are sit down to address our questions. Some of the questions I asked were “What do we want to bring to the pool deck?” and “By looking at the characters of the book, what kind of teammate do we want to be?”  
 
There are also a couple of coaches in the book, so I asked the students about what kind of coaching works best for them. This reading was not just about students learning and growing, but also Coach Sayer and I figured out how students will respond to us in different situations and the kind of coaching they want. 
 
[We adopted a safe word from the book] that came about because one of the characters we all admire was named Pooch, and Pooch is exactly the type of friend you want to have when things go awry. So we decided that if you need a moment of support or speak with one of the coaches, you can come up and say “Pooch” and we will know. 
 
You mentioned a conversation about the different coaching styles in the book, how would you describe your coaching style?
One of the athletes said that we are like relaxed drill sergeants. We have the expectations, but will never be the type of coach that yells. I believe in the athletes, and I asked them to believe in themselves. 
 
I firmly believe in the quality of practice time over quantity of yardage because there are ways to get better that don’t just involve swimming thousands of yards. That was my case growing up and that can lead to burnout. I want the swimmers to feel welcomed on the pool deck and know that it’s not about their times. It’s about them putting in the effort and the care. 
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