Recently, Wilson’s Fitness welcomed Coach Mike Hamm for a special night of adult swim events. He planned the events with Kathryn Fishman-Weaver, “Coach Kat,” who runs our adult personal coaching swim program.
Coach Mike is a lead instructor for United States Masters Swimming (USMS), where he teaches the three levels of USMS coaching courses as well as the clinic course for coaches. In 2024, he was named the USMS Coach of the Year. An accomplished swimmer himself, Coach Mike was an Olympic Trials qualifier, a USA All-American, and is a USMS All-American.
He met Coach Kat a little over a year ago when she was launching our Adult Learn-to-Swim program. She said his visit to Wilson’s was “a kind of full circle moment” for her as a swim coach. “Coach Mike is such a positive influence on swimming,” says Kat. “It’s impossible to be around him and not improve, both as a coach and a swimmer.”
During Coach Mike’s visit, he toured our facilities, led a stroke clinic, joined us for an adult learn-to-swim community event, and celebrated Coach Kat’s recent designation as a Level 3 USMS Coach.
Mike shared that he was impressed with everything happening at Wilson’s. “The facility is first rate, top-of-the-line, and offers clients an extensive number of options that makes this health club a quality facility” He adds that “The people were just great—so kind and welcoming. Instructing from the pool deck was super comfortable, and the swimmers were all so coachable.”
In planning the visit, Kat said she couldn’t wait for Coach Mike “to meet the incredible swimmers who practice at Wilson’s.” This includes swimmers like Ellie Trick, who has been a regular at Coach Kat’s group practice since the beginning of the swim program.
Ellie joined the stroke clinic to further refine her technique. “Coach Mike was fun and made class a good time,” she said, adding that he taught her new skills, especially around breathing. “It turns out,” says Ellie, “that for me, swimming is a lot more thinking and not as much splashing in the water to get to the finish line.”
Kelsey Fishman, another regular swimmer in the practice group, said, “Coach Mike made everyone feel great about their progress.” This is the goal of both USMS coaching and the inclusive adult swim program we’ve built at Wilson’s. Coach Mike says these clinics were “all about making small technique adjustments that have a big impact in the pool.”
For Tabitha Kimble, one of the adult learn-to-swim students from 2025, she came to the clinic hoping to make progress on her freestyle kick. At the end of the clinic, she had not only made progress—she was demonstrating her progress to the whole class.
Swimmers had many reasons for joining the clinics. A few triathletes came looking to improve their efficiency. One long-time distance swimmer said she had heard about all the fun happening in Coach Kat’s group practice and hoped this might be the first step in helping her fall back in love with the sport.
The swim events were all marked by personal goals, small technique adjustments, and a lot of laughing. As such, there was no competition—only progress, persistence, and community. Yet both coaches agree that if they had awarded a most-inspiring-clinic-swimmer, that recognition would have gone to Betty Mwai.
Growing up, Betty never missed watching the swimming events in the Olympics, and she always loved the water. However, until she joined the swim program at Wilson’s, she says “dog paddling” was her way across the pool. This all changed, says Betty, when Coach Kat invited her and her friend Jenniffer to join the then new swim program.
Betty still lights up thinking about it. “I was so excited! Coach Kat not only believed in me, but she has taught me the right swimming technique.” Betty attended every event with Coach Mike during his visit. Like Ellie, she says, “The stroke clinic was such a fun class! I was able to learn a lot of great tips to help improve my technique.”
When asked if Betty had anything else to add, she says, “Just a big thank you to Coach Kat and Coach Mike!”