Our daughters have been swimming for 8 years (they are 14 and 15 now). In that time, they’ve swam for 7 different teams. We wanted them to be in the pool as much as possible to expose them to a number of coaches and coaching styles. As you can imagine, they’ve had some awful coaches and some awesome coaches. Ryan Taylor definitely falls into that awesome category.
Ryan is great when working with a large group or when he’s giving individual attention. We did a number of private lessons to work on starts and turns and stroke development. He is personable and kind. He is observant and encouraging. Ryan would get into the pool and swim alongside swimmers, guiding them. After practices, Ryan would often speak with us about our daughters’ strengths and weaknesses and would instruct them on how to improve. In the years after being our coach, he’s repeatedly checked in with us and kept track of our daughters’ swimming careers, still providing encouragement. Once after practice, Ryan told us, “There are kids who are natural swimmers and kids who need to work at it… your girls are both.” That resonated with all of us and has become our mantra as we approach new swim seasons.
There is no doubt in our minds that he has had a HUGE impact on making our girls the swimmers they are today! And our family will always be thankful.