Amy Poulton is beginning her first year as the head coach of the Waterford girls swimming and diving team. Poulton is no stranger to the water. Starting at the age of eight, she has been swimming competitively for 11 years. 

During her time as a swimmer, Poulton swam the backstroke leg in the 200 yard medley relay, the 100 yard backstroke, and the 100 yard butterfly. In 2009, Poulton and her relay set the Hall High School record for the 200 medley. Poulton set her second record in 2012 at the University of Saint Joseph in the 50 yard backstroke.

Her swimming career, however, did not come without difficulties. Her sophomore year, Poulton experienced an injury to her knee. For the next two years Poulton pushed through practices, wearing a brace on land and taping her knee in place when swimming. At the end of her junior year, Poulton had surgery and was able to return to swimming for her senior season and her freshman year of college. 

After her first season of collegiate swimming Poulton decided to stop, but ended up missing swimming too much. Poulton ended up running the score board and timing system for her college team. This is also how she got into coaching. 

“I definitely think my injuries help me as a coach,” Poulton says, “I can modify sets of workouts to match what swimmers with injuries need to be able to keep training, and not get more hurt.” Additionally, Poulton has an ongoing shoulder injury that she completes semi-regular strength training to prevent further injury. 

Poulton has been coaching for many years for a variety of teams across Connecticut. Including the Connecticut Aquatics Club (CAC) in Groton, CT. Additionally, Poulton was the head coach for both the boys and girls swim teams at Conard High School in West Hartford, CT. On the collegiate level, Poulton spent two and a half years coaching the swim team at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford. 

Today, Poulton teaches at the Marine Science Magnet High School in Groton CT as a special education teacher with a focus in mathematics. Poulton heard about the open coaching position from fellow coaches of the CAC team and the Ledyard High Schools girls swim coach.

Poulton is following the former head coach Brett Arnold, who had been there for the past 22 consecutive seasons .“It was definitely nerve racking,” Poulton said, “coming in to take over a team and essentially starting from scratch on my own.” However, the response to her coaching style has been overwhelmingly positive.

Junior captain Julia Gathy reports, “I think she is a great coach! She definitely pushes us, but makes sure to keep practice fun.” Gathy continues, “Amy plays music during practice and lets us move things around in our sets, so we are more motivated.” 

This keeps things fun for everyone, including Poulton who says “I love being a high school coach. If I am having a bad day, I can always count on someone to say or do something funny.” A prime example of this being many of the girls speaking with southern accents throughout practice.

Swimming is a mental sport, therefore maintaining a fun environment is a requirement. Poulton highlights how swimming differs from most other sports. She says that “feedback has to be more individualized, since you swim the events solo mostly.” 

Her feedback has been working. At their first meet of the season, Poulton had three swimmers qualify for the class S state championship. By the end of the season, Poulton hopes to have as many team members as possible qualify and attend the championship.