Swimmers see Weathers as not just coach, but second dad
by ANDREW SOUKUP
Sports Writer
UNIONDALE, N.Y.
At first glance, Bailey Weathers doesn't exactly strike you as the type of man who would lead the women's swim team to five straight Big East championships.
He's quiet, mild-mannered, and doesn't exactly say a whole lot. In fact, it's hard to believe that this soft-spoken man is the primary reason behind Notre Dame's success.
But as the swimmers will readily tell you, there is more to Weathers than you can tell when you first meet him.
"He gets really quiet sometimes, but you just have to get to know him," said Lisa D'Olier. "He'll run around, tap your shoulder, and run away, and play little jokes on you. He has this whole other side to him."
Weathers embodies the model of an ideal swim coach. He is a master recruiter — shown by the talent he consistently brings in — and an expert at training methods. During his six-year tenure as Notre Dame's swim coach, he has produced 10 All-Americans, but he's probably more proud of his 15 Academic All-Americans. He's been named Coach of the Year almost as many times as Notre Dame has won the Big East title.
But there is a much deeper side to Weathers that only a few people ever see.
"He gets in goofy moods," said senior Carrie Nixon. "He get things up, the spirits up on deck. Even during practice all year, he's dancing around."
"Sometimes, we wonder just how old he really is," laughed freshman Lisa Garcia.
Weathers has been known to pull some crazy stunts. Just ask his swimmers.
"Probably the funniest thing I've ever seen is when we were out to dinner one night, and we got him to get up and dance on the dance floor," said senior Kristen Van Saun. "I've never seen him dance before."
Or there was the time that Weathers jumped off the diving board with his clothes on.
"Marie was swimming fast and he said, `If you go 2:07, I'll jump off the diving board with my clothes on'," said Kelly Hecking. "She goes, `Really?' and the next lap she went 2:07. And at the end of practice, he did it with his wind pants on. He went home with one of the assistant coach's tight little pants on. It was hilarious."
"He just jumped up and down on the board and then jumped in, and he's in a little ball and his hair is all flopping, and it was just the funniest thing," said freshman Danielle Hulick.
And the one time that Weathers got mad, his swimmers had a hard time taking him seriously.
"One day he just yelled at us and made us do wall sits for 30 minutes," Hulick said. "It was the funniest thing. He was like a drill sergeant and you never see Bailey get mad."
But the reason why Weathers is so loved by his swimmers can be seen in how he transcends the traditional distance between coaches and athletes that characterizes college sports. Weathers is more than just a coach to his swimmers, he's a father.
"I think that for a lot of us he's a dad away from home," said Van Saun. "I don't know a lot of college coaches that care so much about their swimmers out of the pool. I guess it's that it because he cares about me so much as a person and not just what I'm doing for him in the pool."
"I think a lot of coaches just care about the sport aspect of your life," said Carrie Nixon. "He cares about everything else, too."
Weathers is always interested in the social life of his swimmers, going so far as wanting to meet their boyfriends. But he's always available at any time. Weathers' greatest strength is his ability to listen. He has his team over to his house frequently for dinner, and he actually shows genuine interest in his swimmer's lives. He stresses academics and social life just as much as he wants them to swim. In short, he treats his swimmers not just as athletes, but as people
And for that, he earns a ton of respect.
"I respect him as a person, not just as a coach," said Garcia.
Weathers says that attending Notre Dame means more than being just a student or an athlete. It involves living a quality life. He always talks about how the sprit of Notre Dame and how it attracts quality people. Especially to his team, Weathers is one of those quality people.
When it was announced that Weathers was named Big East Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career, the women's swim team erupted into cheers. They chanted "B-Dub!" and yelled "We love you Bailey" as Weathers walked to the podium to receive his award.
After, when the women's team was receiving the championship trophy, when asked
if he was looking forward to getting thrown in the water as he has every year since Notre Dame started their streak of Big East title, Weathers casually replied, "Not really."
The broad grin on his face said otherwise.
In fact, Weathers must have been so eager to get in the water that he jumped in himself instead of waiting for his swimmers to through him in.
Weathers downplays his success as a coach and gives all the credit to his swimmers.
"It feels good, but I think a lot of that goes to the kids," he said. "It really comes down to how hard they work and their improvement."
But it's a lot easier to work hard when you've got a coach as good as Bailey.
All Sports Stories for Monday, February 19, 2001
