Richard Anderson photo
Veteran Laramie swim coach Tom Hudson keeps an eye on his swimmers during a recent Lady Plainsmen practice.
By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org
The word challenge is in Tom Hudson’s vocabulary. It might as well be tattooed on his massive calves. Challenge is embedded in his mind.
Entering his 36th season as head Laramie High School swim coach (18 completed boys’ seasons, he is beginning his 18th with his girls’ program), Hudson’s office wall, full of awards, says it all.
He’s won eight state titles -- five boys and three girls (state runner-up 12 times, nine third-place finishes). His dual meet record is 417-72-2. He’s been the state coach of the year 15 times; conference coach of the year 18 or 19 times (something like that, he says). He won one national coaching award this spring and was up or another national award this summer. Arguably, he’s one of the most successful coaches in Wyoming history.
“Lots and lots of years I have been very lucky to have the Laramie Swim Club feed the program,” Hudson said last week as he prepared his undermanned Lady Plainsmen team to its season-opening meets in Casper and Gillette. “I know that I am going to have five freshmen who know how to swim, particularly in girls. This year, we have that with 10 freshmen, but through attrition, moving away, some girls losing interest, whatever, we’re down to 10 freshmen and only 21 on the team. That is different.”
Hudson could drive himself crazy analyzing his situation this season. At times, he probably does.
“As a coach, in my 36th season, I wonder why there is the loss of numbers in girls, and in the boys, it is more than ever,” he said. “What is going on? Is it something I am doing? Is it something program-wide? I don’t know. But it is a big challenge.”
For the time being, Hudson just goes with the flow. What choice does he have? He’s the kind of coach who credits others for his success.
It's been a combination of reasons why the Lady Plainsmen program is a bit down this season. Hudson has had seven of his best swimmers move, for one reason or another. That is always a concern for a coach in a college town. Swimming seems to be hit hard in that instance.
“I feel snake bitten in that respect,” he said. “That feeds off of itself with some of the kids who didn’t come out who had been on the team. They’re like, ‘why bother, when we know we’re not going to have a real strong team. To put in all that work, why should I do that? I’m not going to swim in college.’ It’s fun when you are on a good team, but this year we’re going to have to work extra hard to maybe just get fifth.”
The challenge for Hudson is to now make it fun and exciting for this group of swimmers. That’s exactly what he has talked about with his assistant coaches.
“If we are going to coach the team, we have to do the very best that we can with them, very similar to the first year that I coached; we had 11 kids on the team and got 10th in the state,” he said. “You have to make it special for those kids on the team, no matter how many you have.”
Times change in high school athletics and so does coaching. Hudson said he has tried to modify some of his coaching techniques. He now spends more time now on stroke development and stroke videos, “like a stroke-camp atmosphere,” than he did in his earlier or middle years. Then, he said, the emphasis was to just “pound out as many yards as you can get done.”
Not that Hudson still doesn’t like his yardage.
“I’ve evolved, I think, for the good that way,” he said. “There are other things that I question all of the time. I’m always trying to pick up more stuff and do different things. The basic structure, I’ve thought about, is should I back it off, maybe it is too hard. Maybe I should chill out a little bit.”
Chill is not in Hudson’s vocabulary.
“Not have morning practices, some coaches are doing that,” Hudson said. “But I think that is the beginning of the end, when you start watering down what you are doing and make it too easy. I can’t do that.”
Sometimes the key for coaches, especially veteran coaches like Hudson, is to not over think. When the Laramie boys’ season begins, he’ll have about 50 swimmers out for the team.
“That’s a whole different challenge,” he said. “Whatever is going on the boys’ side is obviously going great. I think the system we have here works, but for whatever reason, we’re just in a low spot (with the girls’ program). I have to change some things, but I don’t think it is that broke. It is something I am going to have to work through as a coach.”
Hudson has maintained that the Lady Plainsmen will have to work hard to finish in the middle of the pack. That’s what he plans to do. Last year’s team was a prime example of what happens with hard work and things going your way.
The Lady Plainsmen were ranked fifth or sixth for much of the year and Hudson said that they went into the state meet thinking that if they got fifth place, it would be a good meet. His eight seniors had outstanding meets and Laramie finished in third place.
“You have to set your goal, and some people probably think that Hudson sandbagged on that and they got third: You know, finishing in the top three again, blah, blah, blah,” Hudson said with a smile. “But it was special and they did feel like they won. This year, we’ll set our goal and hopefully they can overachieve.”
Last spring, Hudson was honored by receiving the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA) Service Award. He was one of eight coaches from across the country nominated and he received the award at the NCAA Championships in Tacoma, Wash.
“It was a very emotional time for me," Hudson said. “My wife came with me and my high school coach presented the award to me. It was a very special time. Not many coaches in the country get that award.
“That was something I brought up with one of the parents here. Here I was being honored three months ago as one of the top coaches in the country, and I’m struggling to put together a girls program this year. You go from all these highs to lows. It doesn’t happen every year. Winning a state title, even when you have a great, stacked team, it’s not easy. Different challenges, that is exciting, that’s what gets me going.”
Later in the summer Hudson was also a finalist for the National High School Coach of the Year, which is the top coaching award presented by the National High School Coaches Association. A coach from Oregon won the award in about his fifth time being nominated.
“That was a tremendous honor, too,” he said.
Like many coaches, Hudson isn’t a season-only coach. After the girls’ season ends, he begins with the boys. After the boys’ season ends, basically two days later, he begins as the Laramie Junior High coach. When that season ends, he works with the Laramie Swim Club.
It’s a never-ending cycle that he would not have any other way.
“It takes a lot of time, but I don’t know anything else,” he said.
As Hudson gets older, his own kids are now coming through the program. He said he has now evolved from being a coach to a parent and a coach. He’ll then likely go from a parent and a coach to just a coach again.
Hudson said he questions situations, like when his best swimmers move away and he knows he is not going to have as strong of a team than in the past. Sometimes, he admits, the thought gets him a little down.
“You’re obviously going to be more excited when you have a chance to win a state title,” he said. “You question, ‘is it really worth it to get up at 5 in the morning, every single day, when you know that when you achieve the very best with this team, and you get fifth.’ It gets harder.”
Yet, Hudson still has the drive to do what he does and that picks him up again.
“I still have the passion. When I ask myself why I am doing it and I can’t come up with a good answer, then that is when I am done," he said. "But I'm not giving up."
Even in 36 swim seasons, there are new challenges every step of the way.
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