1. Chris George is a former competitive swimmer and current swimming coach. He began swimming at age 6 and swam competitively through college, qualifying twice for the Olympic trials. 2. After graduating college, George struggled finding his path until he took a coaching job and discovered a passion for motivating young swimmers. He is now the head coach of a club team in Arkansas. 3. Under George's coaching, all of his swimmers achieved personal best times at their championship meet during his first year coaching. He focuses on positivity and building confidence in his swimmers.

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Kelly Mullady
Wednesday October 26, 2011
Introduction to Non-Fiction and Journalism
Profile Outline #1
Changing the Face of Swimming with Chris George
The air is warm and sticky, filled with waves of humidity. The tropical, humid
environment isn’t ideal. Throw in coaches yelling directions at the top of their lungs,
splashing water, and children laughing, and this place becomes a bevy for chaos. Even
though many cannot handle the slippery, tiled path to the starting blocks, Chris George
has come to call the pool deck home.
“I started swimming when I was six-years-old. My parents enrolled me in several
other sports at the time, as well. I think they wanted to treat me as the ‘traditional boy’ of
the family. I’m the second oldest of four children, but I’m the only boy, so my dad
wanted me to be the ‘all-American’ athlete. Swimming was the only sport that stuck,
though, so by 13, I was swimming competitively, full-time. I can’t recall a moment from
my early swimming days where I didn’t absolutely love what I was doing. Plus, I’m way
too short for basketball.”
George is now 26 years old, but he is still as dedicated to his sport. Besides
George’s outstanding personal career, which includes making it through Olympic Trials
twice as well as being captain of the Pitt swimming and diving team, he is slowly, but
surely making another name for himself in the swimming world: coach.
“When I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, I had no idea what I wanted
to do. I was in a very weird place at the time. I got a job selling insurance policies at
Aflac, and started selling insurance, which turned out to be one of the worst experiences

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of my life.” George admits he couldn’t handle the rejection he faced everyday on the job.
“You are basically a door-to-door salesman. You walk into these places of business, and
you’re forced to convince them that they want your insurance. It was the most defeating
thing I’ve ever been through. Being told ‘no, no, no,’ all day long is horrible. I would
equate it to working at the lost luggage department at the airport, although I have no
experience with that.” George laughs at the end here, revealing his soft, gentle nature.
After George decided insurance wasn’t his game, life threw him a curveball. “My
girlfriend, whom I intended to propose to, cheated on me. We had been on a downward
spiral for quite some time now, but this devastated me more than anything. I packed my
things that night and left Pittsburgh behind.”
George was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. “Returning home was the
best decision I ever made. My family was there for me, which I never realized I needed
until I had it. Even though I left a number of amazing friends in Pittsburgh, I was at a
juncture in my life where I needed to focus on me, and figure out what to do with my
life.” What George did, eventually, led him to Arkansas.
George grew up in the pool, literally. Swimming at the age of 6, it soon became
apparent that George had incredible potential. Standing at about 5’9,” George is almost
the perfect height and build for a swimmer. His dark hair disguises the damage left by
chlorine that every swimmer can relate to and his face is kind and warm. That’s really
the only way to describe George: he is a warm person, who makes everyone around him
feel comfortable and happy.
“He loved swimming, and he was good at it. I wasn’t sure how to feel about it at
the time, because I didn’t want to turn the sport into a job for him, something he hated. I

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wanted him to be happy, and if swimming made him happy, I would support it,” said
Mrs. George, a kind faced woman, and proudly displays her son’s achievements all over
their Jacksonville house. She has even been able to turn George’s new Arkansas
apartment into a record of George’s outstanding achievements.
“She insisted on coming out here to ‘help me move in.’ I’m 26, I think I can
handle it. As you can see, she got her way in the end.” The room is full to bursting with
plaques, certificates, and medals, all boasting the achievements of George’s athletic
ability. George was even good enough to make it to the Olympics, or, at least almost
make it. George was invited to compete at the Olympic Trial Meet, which is a meet
where you compete against every swimmer in the country, and the top two swimmers are
chosen to compete on the United States Olympic Team.
“In 2004, I qualified for Olympic Trials a month before the meet started. I trained
for the entire year focusing on the Charlotte Ultra Swim Grand Prix Meet because that
was the meet I was going to taper for. The Charlotte pool is a very fast pool and many
world records have been set there. I qualified for trials in the 1500-meter freestyle and I
went 15:46:20 and the time standard to beat was 15:48:29. I was so excited because all
of my hard work paid off.” George wasn’t in swimming for the glory of it; it simply
became something he loved, that he happened to be good at. “Going into the Olympic
trials, in Long Beach, California, I had no expectations about my times or place; I went
there to have fun. It was the best experience of my life. I have never been at a venue with
all the fastest swimmers in the world. According to USA Swimming, out of the 2 million
swimmers in the USA, only the top 1% qualifies for Olympic Trials. To make the
Olympic Team you have to finish top 2 in your event. It ended up being faster than the

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Olympics itself. When we got paraded out on deck, there were about 20,000 people in
the stadium watching. I was seeded 28th out of 29 swimmers in the event.” George’s
ranking and seat barely mattered to him. “I was so excited and my adrenaline was
pumping, so I don’t remember feeling nervous at all, although I was probably about to
faint from nerves. I just told myself, ‘this is it! Go out there, have fun, and just race!’
The person in the lane next to me was the American Record Holder in the event, which
did little to help the nerves, but when I’m on that block, I’m in a completely different
world, my world. I swam the perfect race, and I just out-touched the American Record
Holder by 1 second. I bested my time from the previous meet by 9 seconds, which is a lot
in swimming, especially since I went my best time a month earlier. It was the best
experience ever and I will never forget it. I finished 8th, 20 places ahead of where I was
seeded, and it was the best meet I have ever had. Although only the top two swimmers
make the actual Olympic Team, finishing in eighth place is certainly something to be
proud of. Just competing in Trials is an honor.”
George brings this same enthusiasm to his teaching job. When coaching his
swimmers, George never focuses on the negative. “I’ve found one of the most helpful
things a coach can do is motivate you. My college swim coach didn’t do anything to
motivate my teammates, or me and we all resent him for that. When I coach, I start out
with what my swimmers are doing well, and then I like to introduce some helpful hints.”
Whenever one of his swimmers is struggling on a technique, George likes to practically
get in the pool with them to show them. He always goes over basic techniques, no matter
how insignificant they may seem, and he always has a minute to help out anyone who

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asks for it. He is as on-hands as possible, and you can see he really works hard to be a
positive force in the lives of these kids.
When George left Pittsburgh, he landed a job as a swimming coach for a small
club team in Jacksonville. George was in charge of the 9-18 age group, coaching about
26 kids total. Although George had never formally coached, his first year of coaching
was as impressive as his whole swimming career. When I asked George what he was
most proud of during his year in Jacksonville, he is torn between two achievements. “I
think the most rewarding moment of my coaching career, and that’s including my career
in Arkansas, was when my swimmer, Jason Ellis, who had only been swimming for 3
years, was offered a scholarship to 3 different universities. I was given the opportunity to
watch Jason grow up over that year, and I feel so blessed to have been able to help shape
who he is, not just as a swimmer, but as a person. I make sure my swimmers are
confident. That’s the most important thing I can do, and probably the most important
part of my job.” It was from George’s experience with Jason that really opened his eyes
to coaching. “When I was on the Pitt swimming team, I stopped enjoying swimming.
The coach did nothing to inspire or motivate me, and he made me resent swimming, and
myself. I’m honestly glad I went through that, because now I know exactly how NOT to
coach.” Clearly, this lesson has paid off. In George’s first year as a coach, all 26 of his
swimmers went their best times at their Championship Meet. There wasn’t a single event
where a record wasn’t set by one of George’s swimmers.
“Honestly, swimming was just a sport, until Coach George (as he’s affectionately
called by his team) showed up,” said Jason Ellis. “George inspired me, and made me
realize that I could be anything I wanted, as cheesy as that sounds. He took extra time

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with me to help me perfect my stroke, and he never got annoyed or upset with me if it
took a little longer for me to grasp something he was teaching. George made me a better
swimmer, better than I thought I could ever be.”
After George’s impressive first year, the University of Arkansas came calling.
“After that meet I got a call from the head coach of the University of Arkansas asking me
if I would coach with them and their club team. It was like riding a high I couldn’t get off
of, but I didn’t want to. The University of Arkansas wants me? Seriously?” This self-
deprecating manner has been George’s strongest quality, and has enabled him to go far in
a short amount of time. “It was a tough decision, almost the most difficult one I’ve ever
made. Of course I had been to Arkansas, but packing up my entire life to move
somewhere I’ve never lived? It was like going to college all over again. But in the end,
it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.” George is now the head age
group coach of the Razorback Aquatic Club and he is in charge of managing about 95
swimmers from ages 6-14. He is also an assistant with the University of Arkansas
women’s swimming and diving team. “I am very grateful to be in this position because I
am doing something I love and it keeps me involved in the sport as much as possible. It
also keeps me motivated and competitive, which I feel are some of my best qualities as a
coach.”
Chris George has gone through a lot to get where he is, but he’s not even close to
being done, yet. “I have no idea where I’ll be in 10, 20 years; I don’t even know where
I’ll be a year from now, but coaching is what I love to do, and I want to make a
difference. I have had some amazing and some truly terrible swim coaches, and I want to
make sure I can help improve the amazing side of the spectrum as much as possible. My

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ultimate goal as a coach is to educate the swimmers and pass on my love and passion for
the sport to new swimmers. I want to be a mentor and a figure the kids can look up to and
trust, and ultimately make them faster swimmers and help them achieve the goals they set
for themselves.”