Hard Lessons: What I Learned from Kristin Hill

by Nikki Cannon

04 August 2015, 09:00am

By Nikki Cannon, Swimming World Intern

Perhaps you are gearing up for another season off at school, maybe you’ve hung up your suit and goggles long ago, or possibly you are just entering the world of college swimming as you brace yourself for the recruiting process.  Regardless, if you ever have been a collegiate swimmer you recognize the importance and significance of the relationship with your coach.

From the start of your college search, your coach is calling you, making sure you’re a good fit, and then they continue to see you through your entire career, through good times and bad.  I write a lot about college swimming, or how swimming in college has affected my life, and that is because my years spent as a Bronco were simultaneously some of the most rewarding and challenging  situations that I’ve experienced.

Upon hearing that my former coach, Kristin Hill, was resigning from Boise State, I started to reflect on ways I could incorporate what she has taught me into an article.  It would be easy for me to sit here and write about lessons that we hear all the time, “Persevere and success is yours” or, “Always try your best.” Both are true, and Kristin did teach me these things, but what I truly value about our relationship are lessons that were generated that don’t have an easy tag line or a short synopsis.

This article is not a list on what to do, or things I learned that you might want to consider; but rather an honest reflection (so bear with me).

Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher/USA Today Sports Images

I entered my freshmen year of college, big eyed and in awe, like most of us do.  That year Boise State went on to win the Mountain West Conference Championship in quite the dramatic fashion.  It was like a movie.  Every race was tic for tack with San Diego State and it ultimately came down to the last relay, then victory was ours.

But my sophomore year, despite great training by the team, despite having one of our best dual meet seasons ever, we lost.  I just could not understand it.  What had gone so wrong?  How did we do everything so right and yet fail? But Kristin moved forward.

I learned that sometimes, you do everything right, and sometimes, it just doesn’t go your way.  You can be the most prepared, mentally, physically, emotionally, you name it, and sometimes the cards just are not in your favor.  To mope and relive every decision made and what could have gone differently, does nothing.  That’s not to say you should just throw up your hands and claim no responsibility when you do not succeed. But to think that just because you’re a hard worker, or you tried your best that success is imminent is naïve.

Photo Courtesy: Arizona Republic-USA TODAY Sports

Kristin also taught being grateful, even if you feel that you don’t have much to be thankful for.  During my first collegiate Thanksgiving, we were sitting in an airport and randomly pulled a teammate’s name from a hat.  We were given a few moments to write about how we were thankful for them as friends and teammates.  I remember some of us pulling names that maybe we didn’t closely connect with. It didn’t matter– there was good to be seen.

In the midst of the hardest training sessions, we were reminded how lucky we were to be given an opportunity to train and swim.  We used our facilities to the absolute best ability we could.  It’s easy to want more.  It’s even easier to wonder how you could be faster, or be happier, or a be a better person even if you had more.

Kristin showed us that it’s not only being content for the pool you have, the teammates you swim with, the moments that you are truly struggling with, but finding thankfulness for that difficulty.  She once told me that in order to be a great swimmer that you have to find “joy in the struggle.”  At the time, I found that was truly the most borderline insane thing you could say, but it’s true.  Because, you don’t always have everything, and as previously discussed, things don’t always go your way.  But can you be thankful for those moments?

Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher/USA Today Sports Images

Finally, in a quite difficult manner, Kristin taught me to not take things too personally.  Last summer (the summer before my junior year), was a tumultuous time.  I was angry about the amount of training we were doing, and quite frankly, a miserable swimmer for a coach to deal with.  Although I would do the workouts, I did them quite begrudgingly and always with a hint of attitude.

It was upsetting for my coaches and teammates, as I was almost always a very positive swimmer.  Finally, Kristin had a heart to heart with me.

“What is going on with you?” she asked in an equally exasperated and concerned tone of voice.  We hashed it out and it was not necessarily pretty.  I walked away from the conversation with strong feelings of anger and a sense that things would not be the same between the two of us.

I was sorely wrong.  As I got over (my awkwardly) angsty stage, I saw that I had taken the whole experience quite personally.  Kristin was being unfair to me, I had thought.  Why doesn’t she see what’s going on in my life? The fact of the matter is, in swimming as in life, everything is not about you.

I had forgotten my greater sense of purpose, and instead only saw how actions, events and emotions affected myself.  Once we see that everything is not about ourselves, we can better understand how our actions and attitudes need to make a positive impact for the betterment of the whole group.

So there are my ramblings.  I hope that you found it somewhat helpful and made you reflect on the lessons you’ve encountered in your life.  Whether or not you personally identified with these specific instances, I challenge us all to grow in moments that are difficult and appreciate those coaches who push our boundaries.  It’s often the only way we truly evolve.

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Chuck Kroll

8 years ago

Thanks for this piece Nikki. And best to Coach Kristin Hill as she moves forward in life!

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