Isabella Pereira, Special to The Denisonian–

As chlorine fumes make the air feel heavy on the lungs, and the bright white lights wake up the sleepiest eyes, every time at 6 a.m. without fail, a cherry-colored ponytail walks into the pool deck at Denison’s Mitchell Aquatic Center. It gives a bounce or two, claiming to have a life of its own, but its owner Kristen Skroski keeps it at bay as she says loudly, “Everybody in, stop stalling, you came to swim!”. Everybody knows what this means, do not mess with Denison’s only female swim assistant coach. 

She breathes, sleeps, and lives for swimming, and this started at a young age. Raised by athlete parents who encouraged sports in the family, what started as swim lessons for a young child’s safety, became an insatiable thirst for synchronized breaststrokes and wet curly hair. 

The undeniable passion that Skroski has for swimming became a bigger dream as time passed, and soon she began splashing as a distance varsity swimmer at Bucknell University. 

But her swimming career would soon come to an end, as she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in animal behavior, and she would no longer feel the squared tiles of the pool deck stabbing the soles of her feet, or the loss of blood circulation around her scalp from her swimming cap. 

But, either by destiny or coincidence, she made what she calls “the best mistake of my life.” 

She did not take a class required to apply for veterinary school. 

On the verge of adversity and a denial of her intrinsic nature towards the pool, one of her old Connecticut coaches convinced her to coach the 8-and-under swimming group. 

Skroski pursued her dream career of being a swim coach through a part-time job, and being a part-time veterinarian’s technician.

“I was still trying to… I don’t want to say hold on to the dream because I’m not really sure it was ever like a fully composed dream, but like the idea that I was going back to vet school” she said. But everybody knew she never would, even herself. 

Skroski grew up seeing little to no representation of women in the field. In comparison to their male counterparts, female coaches were “cheerleaders” she said. But her love for the sport and the possibility of a fulfilling career made her take the dive to disrupt the narrative. 

Encouraged by the same coach, she packed her bags and moved to Texas, becoming a full-time swim coach. 

Upon her arrival, she was met by concrete gray floors that could burn anyone’s feet soles, a refreshing turquoise chlorine-filled pool, and red and black lane lines became her new home. As she became part of the FLEET, the name given to those belonging to this swim club, her biggest challenge was facing the Texas raging heat. 

Skroski began crafting workouts for the ages 13 and over and developed her coaching style. But after six years, she yearned for more and landed a job at Denison.

With mascara on her eyelashes, eyeliner on her eyelids, and her hair in a tight but high ponytail she walked into the pool deck. The rumbling of the swimmer’s conversations had her heart sloshing back and forth, but they soon cheered and she was introduced. 

“I was excited to get a new perspective,” said swimmer Gavin Jones ‘25, who is studying Economics and Communication. “And also, I think a younger coach too is always something I look for, just because usually they bring more energy.” 

Plunging into her new role, she had to make some tweaks to better adapt. Starting with the fact that she was coaching college students, and not children anymore. 

“I think at the beginning, it wasn’t like a huge issue, but there were definitely times when I was like, okay, I’m not 14 anymore,” said Jones. 

But he recognizes that she has since evolved, and he has been able to enjoy her presence as she has gotten more comfortable with the team to the point where she will joke around. 

But there is no ocean without the commotion of waves, as she explained some of the hardships her gender has posed in a male-dominated career. 

She recalled a time in her last job when she was in a swim meet wearing team apparel and on deck, and officials would confuse her for a parent or dismiss her. Feeling like she was drowning, she decided to stand up for herself and told her 6-foot-4 male assistant coach to walk away so the officials would need to talk with her rather than going to him. 

“He didn’t take it the right way. He thought it was me pretty much castrating him in public, taking away his power so that relationship didn’t end well, unfortunately,” she said. “But I mean the official that was trying to talk over me had this look of shock that like I was the one that was going to answer the question. So yeah, there’s been some incidents, but it’s mostly from the older generations.” 

As the world is evolving, women have been able to advocate for themselves and take space in athletics. But this does not come at a rapid pace, since according to a non-profit organization called WeCOACH, which advocates for having more female coaches, across NCAA divisions in the 2022-2023 academic year, about 41% of female teams and only 6% of male teams had a female coach.

But Skroski yearns to be recognized for her role and not her gender. 

“I’ve always said I’m very proud to be a female coach, but I live for the day where I can just be a coach,” she said. In the meantime, she has made efforts through her involvement as a coach in the athletic department and on the pool deck to uplift female voices.

And her coworkers have noticed, as Coach Kellen Beckwith explained her impact. 

“She’s helping with the strong women’s coaching, and athletic stuff here on campus. She’s very diligent and part of that group in empowering them,” he said. 

If you are not aware that Skroski is on deck, you will know the moment she speaks up. This has been the No. 1 characteristic she has been described with by her coworkers and team, but it all comes down to her needing to be heard among so much noise. 

“I talk about that with the swimmers sometimes, because they’re like, why are you yelling at me? And I’m like, I’m not yelling, I’m just trying to get you to hear me,” she said.  

Despite this, head coach Gregg Parini explained that he appreciates her as a coworker because apart from being loud, she has her heart in the right place. And that all the screaming in a way is “passion that comes across in high volumes,” he said.

All of the blood, sweat, and tears became worth it— as on March 22, the cheering from the fully clothed water-treading swimmers became encouraging. Looking for momentum, she took a couple of steps back, ran, and did a front flip into Greensboro’s Aquatic Center pool, followed by the rest of the coaches. 

The men’s swim and dive team won their sixth NCAA title in program history, and first since 2019.