Just keep swimming, just keep swimming! That is exactly what the Saint Viator girls’ swim team is doing. Two new coaches make for an addition to the team and a strong start to the season. Coach Dillon Thompson is the new head coach at Saint Viator, and he has a long history of swimming. Coach Thompson began his swimming career at age five and continued it throughout high school and college.

“Being coached by many different styles over the years has allowed me to find what I believe will be the best approach to use this year at Saint Viator,” Coach Thompson said.

He is a graduate from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree in ecology and evolutionary biology. Coach Thompson expresses three main goals for his swimmers this year, which include winning a duel meet record for the season and placing in the top five at all invites and attending state. Since this is Coach Thompson’s first time coaching at a high school, he describes his approach to training similar in some ways to coaching a club team.

“I take the same coaching philosophy and ideas but customize practices to be geared towards high school and sprint events,” said Coach Thompson.

One belief that Coach Thompson describes as especially important is cross-training or participating in other sports in the off-season.

“It is beneficial in strengthening, as well as staying in shape, and will have positive results during the season,” Coach Thompson said.

Overall, Coach Thompson believes strongly in creating a positive work environment for his swimmers and finds that the best piece of advice he has learned over the years and would like to pass along is that continuing to keep an active interest in the sport and having fun with it is what keeps a swimming career going.  

Sophomore Colleen McMahon, who has a new coach for the second consecutive year, said, “I think Coach Thompson works more on the quality of swimming and the little details that will help in races and winning more meets.”

In addition to a new head coach at Saint Viator, there is also a new assistant coach. Coach Sam Wilcher has also had an exciting swimming career with roots at Saint Viator. He found his niche in swimming at age 12 after trying many other sports. He swam club during his high school years and went on to swim at Purdue for four years. Coach Wilcher also made his first Olympic trials in 2008 and then went on to make them again in 2012 and 2016. This is his 12th year overall coaching and is currently coaching at Alligator Aquatics, which is the club team that practices at Saint Viator. Also, Coach Wilcher has coached at Purdue and for club teams in Indiana. He says he is most excited to get to know everyone on the team better and to teach the swimmers at Saint Viator more about the sport of swimming in general.

“This sport is much bigger than just swimming,” said Coach Wilcher.

Coach Wilcher describes his experience at the Olympic trials.

“It was amazing, because this was a meet where everyone was at their best and peak of their training, so if you won or lost you were still racing athletes at their best,” said Coach Wilcher.

He gives advice to the swimmers at Saint Viator.

“Swimming includes talent but is mostly attitude, because there were even people at the Olympic trials that did not care what they had to do to get there but were just happy they were,” said Coach Wilcher.

“I really like how Coach Thompson runs practice because it is very organized, and he creates a positive environment,” said junior Ashley Alteri. “His positivity really reflects on us as swimmers to make a hard-working team gearing up for the season.”

The Saint Viator girls’ swimming welcomes both new coaches for the upcoming season.