Swimming has meant everything to Colleen Barczyk she had a background in the sport from an early age.
The current head coach for Ascension Episcopal said she has been around the water for two decades, and the best part about her job is simply the kids.
"I swam in college and coached all the way through grad school,” said Barczyk. “My kids both swam so I coached for a long time. It's my passion, and I love it. It doesn't matter if it's an Olympic trial cut or their first state cut, it's just as exciting for me."
She has coached a few teams to district titles and state championships. She also helped a few kids compete at the college level including Ashley Gill who swims at Missouri.
Barczyk now coaches Ashley's younger sister, Brooke, and she said that it was a no-brainer to compete for the legendary coach.
“She told me that she would be hard on me," said Gill. "She also said it was going to be a lot of work, but she knew that Coach Colleen was really great and got me to where I needed to be."
Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. Even if you're not the best swimmer, she is there every stroke of the way.
"She's the most encouraging person,” said Anne-Calvert Palmer. “If you have a bad race, she will always find a way to lift us up."
Win lose or draw, the race is one of the least of her worries. Barczyk's main focus is making sure that the kids have fun.
“We had a really great tradition for a long time,” said Barczyk. “We had a really great program it's been up and down, but the benefit is when you have kids like that are excited about swimming. When you have that you start to see other teams get excited about swimming and that’s what really matters in the long run.”