Love at First Swim

"I don't remember a life without water,” Abbie Fish says. “It's the longest relationship I've had in my life and it's still ongoing, so I would say it's successful. But we've had some good times and some pretty rough patches.” 

As a baby, Fish’s mother, a lifeguard and lifeguard instructor, would use them to  demonstrate training situations and it proved to be a natural fit. Fish went on to swim throughout childhood and college, qualifying for Olympic Trials six times, becoming a 2x USA Junior National Champion, NCAA qualifier, and now a highly successful swimming coach with millions of views on social media - who still loves to swim. Fish’s lifetime relationship with the water looks like a fairy tale on paper but it’s more a story of real-life love—one that includes the grit, heartbreak, and scars amid the triumph and passion. 

Heartbreak 

Nothing hurts as much as a first heartbreak and for Fish it happened during the first year of college at the University of Georgia. “We overqualified people for NCAA roster and they had to cut one person—so I got cut,” Fish says. “Mentally I was just rocked. You can’t comprehend that if you did everything right, something negative would come out of that. I was also young so I didn't know how to respond to it mentally.”

Being cut was an experience that left a mark on Fish. Although Fish continued to swim and have success, it wasn’t until this year, over a decade later, that the scar truly felt healed. The very coach that had made the decision was awarded the CSCAA lifetime achievement award and Fish was selected to introduce him. “We were standing on stage and he said in my ear: ‘Abbie, I know we had a really rough start to our relationship, but look how the hell we ended up.’ I was like: cue the tears! That was a really good moment. It was really repairing.”

“I really do believe in life that everything has a silver lining. It's just how long do you keep working for the silver lining? I think people get mad and they suppress things, but if you keep working and repairing yourself and being open, I do think things always come full circle.”

Full Circle 

It wasn’t the first time Fish had experienced things coming full circle. Like many elite swimmers, Fish explains they were 100% focused on swimming during their competitive years and retired feeling burnt out. It wasn’t in the water where Fish found healing, however, it was on deck. “Once I started coaching and I started working with children, I remembered my excitement and joy, and how much I just loved swimming when I was younger, before swimming became more of my job,” Fish explains. “I just love working with kids in general because they bring so much good energy—they’re excited, and nothing has jaded them yet.” 

It wasn’t just children that reminded Fish of the joy of swimming, it was masters swimmers too. “I went to a Master's Nationals and I saw these 89 year olds that were still attempting to be competitive in something. They still had an eagerness to them where I was kind of burned out after my career. I had so much respect for them and I want to be like that. I don't want to be jaded or carrying this stuff around about my own career. I love swimming, so, yeah, I might not have made the Olympic team but swimming (itself) is still fun to do—let’s appreciate that.”

Coming back to a foundational love of swimming gave Fish the energy and drive to commit to a coaching career. Now, Fish runs a successful coaching business, works with swimmers and coaches of all levels from across the world, and runs a popular Instagram  account that makes swimming information accessible to everyone. “I get to work within my passion. Not a lot of people get to say ‘I love my job’ and I really do love my job."

It Takes Work

Don’t mistake Fish’s passion for being an easy coach. "People would say I'm a tough coach. I'm never satisfied, which is a lot of how I was coached,” Fish admits. Structured routine, goal setting, and hard work were the foundations drilled into Fish as a swimmer and now, as a coach, Fish’s swimmers learn the same. “It’s very much the athlete in me who goes to work every single day,” Fish says.

Hard work, in Fish’s book, starts with basic skills. “I don't really care how good you are, we have to look at your base foundation and if something is off there, then we need to go back to floating. Some people have learned how to swim pretty fast but they don't know how to float,” Fish says firmly. “Sometimes coaches are like, what the hell are you doing over there, this is a really fast person! But it's like building a house with one bad pillar. Structurally the house is probably not gonna blow over, but there's still something a bit risky and you have to fix that first.”

“I think it all comes down to putting in the right base. You have a foundation and then a little bit of luck so you can get to the level— but you have to have the base. You can't just rely on luck, you've gotta do the training.”

Celebrate the Good   

Fish is tough when it comes to doing the work but, learning from experience, nurturing joy and fun is equally important. 

“Swimming is an extremely honest and hard sport. To go through plateaus as athletes do for long periods and they don't drop time, that is the hardest for anyone to keep motivated. When you're looking for tenths and hundreds and you're not dropping anything, it's a true test of will and grit and not very many people will come out the other side. Mentally, how do you stay centered when it's not going your way? That in itself is a massive life lesson too.”

Coaching athletes through the literal and metaphorical hard yards means teaching them how to celebrate so they can stay motivated, especially when things are challenging. “I'm trying to get better at celebrating the wins for my athletes because I never celebrated them well for myself,” Fish explains. “There’s a time and place to celebrate. There is also a time and place to say it's time to get back to work but, if you want more, then take a moment, enjoy this, and then put your head back down and grind,” Fish says. 

It’s a practice Fish applies outside of the water as well. When they started their Instagram channel, Fish says they tried many different things to reach the swimming community. Seeing their first video go viral, Fish says it was something to acknowledge and celebrate. The long hard work that is required in swimming (and in life) is only sustainable if the process is enjoyable and, while Fish coaches this mindset, it’s one Fish is still working on as well. 

Everlasting Love  

Through all the trials, Olympic and otherwise, Fish now keeps mentally centered with gratitude. “It’s going to sound cliche, but I’ve been thinking about gratitude and being thankful for the platform that I have and the business that we're building and the effect and influence that we have on the swimming community.” 

It’s a community that Fish has committed to, as a swimmer and a coach. “Swimming is one of the only sports that has a 95 to a 100+ age group. Effectively, you can swim for your whole life and compete if you want to.” In other words, as Fish shows us, swimming is love that can last a lifetime. 

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