Wayne caps swim season with Coach of the Year recognition

Being the best at anything is always a challenge. It requires multiple skills, passion, and perseverance.  In a time of confusion due to the pandemic, winning the FVA Coach of the Year may be an even more impressive achievement. Coach Kelly Wayne, who led her swimmers through a Covid-corrupted season to a conference championship, has been honored for her work and commitment.

Senior Sara Morehouse believes Wayne fully deserves this award.

“I am so happy for Coach Wayne being recognized as Coach of the Year,” she said. “She is so hardworking and has always inspired positive attitudes on our team throughout the season. Especially this season, she pushed us constantly to work hard every day and to win races by beating the person next to us at meets.”

Not only does Wayne know how to get the best out of athletes, but her welcoming attitude also makes it an easy environment to thrive in.

“Wayne is such a caring and enthusiastic coach,” Morehouse said. “She recognizes everyone’s achievements and makes us all feel like we are important and have a necessary part on the team. Each week she would pick a few swimmers of the week to recognize and celebrate their great swims or positive attitudes that week.”

Wayne’s flexibility and creativity also emerged throughout the season. With many pandemic restrictions and pools closed, the team had to find creative ways to train, and that made swimming during the weeks that much more enjoyable.

“Many girls spent hours doing at-home workouts or going on walks and runs because pools were closed,” Wayne said. “They had to keep their motivation throughout the pandemic lockdown and beyond when our season was canceled in August. There was so much uncertainty but the girls kept training, hoping that we would have the chance to compete. This is a mentality that nobody has ever faced before and they pushed through.”

Their hard work did pay off; the team had an undefeated season and were proud of how the campaign went.

“I could not have been happier with how our season went,” Morehouse said. “We were undefeated throughout the season, beating teams like Appleton North and Neenah who are usually top in the conference. We were also conference champions. At sectionals, we placed second and had three state-qualifying relays and individual qualifiers in almost every event. At state, the girls who swam all placed in the top six for at least one of their events.”

Much of the team’s success stemmed from Wayne’s philosophies and relationships with the swimmers.

“All of the team's success was thanks to Wayne and her leadership and encouragement for us to work hard during such a different and challenging season,” senior Morgan Antti said. “I am so grateful to Coach Wayne for being a wonderful coach and being a friend to every swimmer on the team. She has made my high school swimming career so much more fun and rewarding.”

Not only was Wayne able to improve the team, but she was also able to restate why the girls were on the team: because they loved to swim.

“One thing that I really like about Coach Wayne is that she makes our practices fun, and I think that helps us become fast because we enjoy the sport more,” Antti said. “We always work really hard and have a hard set but then by the end, towards sectional week, we play games at the end of practices which is fun.” 

Wayne has not only taught lessons in the pool but given lifelong advice that will stay with the girls forever.

“One thing that I’ve learned from Coach Wayne is to be very positive no matter what the situation is, and with positivity comes hard work and great teamwork,” Antti said. “I think this has been shown at many meets because our team always says ‘good job,’‘congratulations’ to girls around us, and ‘good luck’ which helps us to be better teammates and better swimmers in the pool too.”

Wayne has led her team to great success, and it all comes down to being passionate for what she does.

“It is easy to tell that she loves what she does,” senior Lauren Spiller said. “She knows how to challenge us to better ourselves while also having tons of fun at practices and competitions.”

Wayne says it’s the girls who made this season great, and she is grateful to have been a part of it all.

“I am so proud of every single girl on this team,” she said. “They achieved so much this year because they acted and competed as a team every step of the way. I love my lady Wildcats!”

By Zade Alzoubi

Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue VII

April 30th, 2021