New coach sees a lifetime sport
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
If Mark Kolman’s vision develops, most of the current crop of Hun School swimmers will be around the pool long after they graduate from high school.
Kolman, who is in his first year as head coach after four years of assisting Madeline Jones with the Raiders’ co-ed team, never has gotten too far from a pool. He wants others to develop that same passion.
”In all the ways I’ve been around aquatics, I’m more concerned with building life-long swimmers,” Kolman said. “I’m trying to teach kids to understand the sport, to appreciate the sport and understand it’s a lifelong sport. You can always come back to it. If you teach kids to appreciate it at that level, then some of the other things will happen as well. If you teach them mechanics and basics, they will become faster and as they become faster, we will win meets. That’s where I like to focus my energy — instilling that love of the sport.”
Kolman found pleasure and success being around the pool. He was an All-America swimmer on the University of Tennessee’s 4×200 relay after an All-America high school career. At St. Mark’s in Delaware, he posted the second fastest time in the nation in the 100-yard butterfly and the sixth fastest time in the country in the 500 free. He teamed with Steve Carroll, John Kennedy and Melvin Stewart to claim All-America honors in 1990 in the 800 free relay at Tennessee. He also competed in the 200 butterfly and 500 free at the NCAA Championships.
”It’s nice. You’ve been to where a lot of kids want to go,” Kolman said. “But I look at it like it was so long ago, I have to prove myself in other ways.”
Kolman began coaching others following graduation from Tennessee. It was something he knew he wanted to be involved in even after his swim career was over.
”Almost immediately I started,” he said. “I’ve always been coaching one way or other, whether in age group, summer league, masters swimmers or with triathletes. I was a pool manager for one summer and was the swim coach there. I’ve always been involved in some way. I never really got out of it.”
Kolman started Hun’s club water polo team three years ago and the popularity in another fall option has grown. It has helped bring some new swimmers in as an added bonus.
”I messed around some with the sport, but I never played on a water polo team growing up,” Kolman said. “I did view it as a way to capture more boys’ swimmers. In most any high school, there’s segment of the population that is aquatic kids. They want to do things around the water. It’s not taking from football, soccer or even cross country. It isn’t pulling those kids. It’s pulling kids who otherwise wouldn’t play another sport. It’s that appeal that the pool has to certain kids.”
Kolman has two girls of his own who are getting a taste of the sport. P.J. is a freshman for the Raiders while 7-year-old Pepper is still several years away from joining the Hun team which has more than 25 swimmers on its roster.
”I’ve always enjoyed it,” Kolman said. “With them, swimming was such a big part of my life growing up, I want them to know it exists.”
Kolman has been delighted with the way this season has begun for the Raiders. They don’t have a pool of their own, but he has tried to introduce the swim team to a complete training program.
”Because I live on campus over at Hun, we started morning practices,” he said. “We do a morning weight session on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and then do regular afternoon in-water sessions. It’s not mandatory, and I’m amazed. We’re still getting 80-85 percent in morning practices participation. It’s a huge statement in their desire to be the best they can be.”
It’s an encouraging step toward developing a passion for the sport.
”It was kind of an experiment this year,” Kolman said. “I didn’t know how it would be received. If they continue at this level of excitement and participation, I think going forward it could open more opportunities for kids at Hun. There are kids at the school, who may have been former swimmers, and it gives them a second look at it.
”And for prospective swimmers that may want to come in it, it shows we may not have our own pool, but we find ways to make things happen to be successful.”
Success can be measured a little differently for the Raiders. They have put together solid seasons in the past two years. They were 5-2 last year.
”One thing I try to tell the kids is there are other things to be successful,” Kolman said. “Swimming is a unique sport, where you can lose every dual meet and every race, but if everyone swims their fastest times, we can still be successful.”
The focus this year is on doing well individually at the end of the season in the biggest meets. Kolman has more than 25 swimmers on his complete roster and sees the potential for success across the board.
”I’m going to try to rely on my younger swimmers in dual meets,” he said. “My hope is my older swimmers will be tired from the hard training. I want to rely on the young swimmers for those third- and fourth-place finishes and get them some race experience. I want them to get excited about the sport.
”Connor Bowman, Emily Logan, and Guy Helman, they’re already competitive. They know what they need to do in the water. I don’t want the young swimmers not pushing themselves to rely on the experienced swimmers to win for them. The more chances I have to race my young swimmers, my JV swimmers, the more I will so they see their times improving and they get more excited about the sport.”
Kolman is hoping that approach offers the most to his swimmers. The younger swimmers will gain experience throughout the season as they become more involved in the sport. The older swimmers will build through the regular season to strive for a big finish at the end of the year. And all the Raiders, if everything goes as Mark Kolman hopes it will, will look forward to their every chance to be around the pool.

