Carrie McCambridge, four-time All-American honoree in diving, has found transitioning from diver to swimming coach to be a challenge.
For four years, McCambridge has been an assistant coach for the men's and women's swimming and diving teams. She was hired after only two years as a strength and conditioning graduate assistant coach.
She said it's been a long process trying to prove her ability to coach to everyone.
"It's the transition from diving to swimming and just being young," McCambridge said.
All four years of high school and in college, McCambridge lettered on the diving team. She was awarded Big Ten Diver of the Year twice at Purdue. Her senior year she was named MVP and completed the season as the varsity record holder in five diving competitions.
Today, McCambridge still holds the platform record at Purdue and is the second diver in the history of the university to receive All-American honors.
She said it's still difficult to get the athletes to see her as their coach and not their friend or teammate.
Becca Jones, junior freestyle swimmer, said the team looks up to McCambridge as a big sister. Jones said they can talk to her about both swimming and nonswimming topics.
Although McCambridge said she wants to be seen as the team's coach, she does admit she loves her relationship with the team.
"I care a ton about them as people, and I care a lot about them as athletes," McCambridge said. "I really invest a lot emotionally in the kids and their performances."
It is relationships McCambridge said, that got her interested in coaching.
In 2006, she received her bachelor's degree from Purdue in organizational leadership and supervision, which is the study of relationships and how people act within groups. In August, she earned her master's in exercise science at Auburn.
She said she always liked working with people and studying the relationships they develop.
For her athletes, she said, it's about watching them grow and develop in the sport and as a people.
"You can tell she really cares about the whole team," Jones said. "Her passion really shows through her coaching for this sport."
McCambridge said she has learned a lot from coaching, but most importantly she realized how much her coaches sacrificed for her to achieve her goals.
"Now that I'm on the other end of it, I find myself calling them all the time saying 'thank you so much for everything,'" McCambridge said.
She said the men's team winning first place in the SEC was such a rewarding experience and it was then when she knew she had done all she could as a coach.
"I know a lot of people kind of doubt her because of her diving," said Kelsey Winters, senior butterfly swimmer. "But I think she's worked really hard to understand the sport of swimming and has done a really good job with it."
McCambridge said more than anything, she wants to teach her athletes to be good people because eventually they will have to apply the skills they learned to real life.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
