Coach Emmy Sehmann is our new enthusiastic swim coach at Bolles, with years of background experience on the pool deck. Sehmann comes from the midwest and swam there in high school and in college for the University of Wisconsin. Sehmann first started coaching to provide swimmers with positive experiences and to “avoid past missteps” and give her athletes experiences she wished for in her past swimming career.
She was over the moon for the opportunity to coach at Bolles when it came to her.
“I was really excited about being a part of a successful program that believed in holistic values,” Sehmann said. Getting a coaching job for Bolles made her feel “really successful about where I was at, because it’s one of the top teams in the nation.”
Sehmann says that her favorite part about Bolles so far is definitely getting to know all of the swimmers and their different personalities. “There are people not only from all around the United States, but all around the world. It’s fun to be a part of something that’s just so much bigger than myself.”
Some of her core values include discipline, hard work, grit, and she really believes in empathy.
“Being able to step into somebody’s shoes and fully understand where they’re coming from is something I really like to do,” Sehmann said.
She also believes in having trust as a main core value. She wants to build trust and a stronger bond with her athletes, so that she can coach them on a deeper level. Overall, Sehmann uses trust to be the best version of herself when conversing with fellow coaches and all athletes.
Sehmann’s current favorite stroke to swim and to coach seems to be freestyle, as that was her go-to event in her swimming career. “Freestyle is my favorite, just because that’s what I’m best at, and what I seem to understand the most,” Sehmann said. A close second for her is breaststroke, “I like it a lot. I think that was one that I got a lot better at throughout my years, but there wasn’t as much pressure, because it wasn’t my best stroke.”
Sehmann says her favorite drill to coach is the six-kick-switch freestyle drill, because it aids swimmers of all ages to strengthen key details in the foundation of freestyle form. “It really helps with rotation, staying long, and head position, especially when done with a snorkel,” Sehmann believes.
Overall, Sehmann is an uplifting spirit to see often walking around the pool deck, with her contagious smile. Despite any bumpy roads she had to overcome in her past swimming career, she uses this to apply to her own coaching values and give her own swimmers the best opportunities and experiences. Sehmann is already enjoying the environment of the school and her time here at Bolles, and can’t wait to see what more the future holds.
