Coach’s Corner: Varsity Swimming
By SARIKA AGARAWALLA, ANGELA HE, MAGGIE KOTKOWSKI, and LYDIA KUHNERT
Kaylee Gong / The Exonian
The Exeter pool deck is anything but quiet on a nippy winter afternoon. The sharp rippling sound of swimmers diving into the water, the rhythmic splashing of strokes through the lanes, and the occasional laughter between sets fill the air. At the center of it all, stands Coach Don Mills, stopwatch in hand, watching, timing, and calling out adjustments. He’s as much a part of the team as the starting blocks or lane lines.
For over two decades, Mills has been the driving force in Exeter swimming, not only in strategy but in culture. Mills knows that greatness in the pool is about discipline, about trust, and about limits. This season, with a lineup of some of the biggest competitors, Mills and other coaches are perfecting their approach: balancing intense training as well as the individual needs of the swimmers. Mills also takes the time to congratulate the swimmers, cheer them on, and help them become not only better swimmers but a better team and, even more importantly, better people.
Mills first arrived at Exeter 22 years ago as an intern for the PE department. With a background in triathlon, Mills trained in a wide range of sports, from cycling, running, and swimming. After transitioning to work full-time at the Academy, he found himself heavily involved with the swimming and diving program, and his passion continues to this day.
Being one of the strongest teams on campus, varsity swimming requires an incredible amount of work, dedication, and passion from each member. They push themselves each and every practice, always trying to beat their last time, swim quicker, and dive better. For Mills, each year, he must go in with a solid plan.
“At the beginning of the season, we’re building our base. We do a lot of endurance training, a lot of stroke training, even though some swimmers will have a specialty. We kind of do a little bit more general training to get everybody prepared for the season. Then, as the season progresses, we increase our intensity.”
Mills also emphasized the importance of encouraging his swimmers to be ambitious, saying, “What I hope the team achieves in practice every day is that people are willing to step outside their comfort zone and push themselves so that they can achieve the results they’re after.”
Though swimming is a team sport, the school’s overall place is determined by calculating how each individual racer did in their event. Therefore, it is crucial that the team not only have good chemistry with each other but also that each swimmer is getting the personalized attention they need.
Mills reflected on how this can be difficult, saying, “The biggest challenge right now for the swimming team is that we are relatively large. The bigger picture is the entire team’s results, but also within the team, you need to make sure that each individual swimmer is getting the attention they need as well as reaching the goals that they hope to achieve that season. That’s always been a concern of mine, making sure people are getting taken care of.”
Lower Sebastien TranPham commented on Mills’ attentive style of coaching, “He understands that you have to help people at the individual level if you want results for the entire team. Every time we go to big meets like Easterns, he makes sure that we’re caring for each other, that we’re hyped up and we’re racing fast.”
Easterns is short for the Eastern Interscholastic Swim and Dive Championship, one of the swim team’s most important competitions and also one of the most fun. For Mills, it’s a moment every year where the team’s dedication pays off big. “When you get to championships, everyone’s pretty nervous — they’ve been training hard, and everyone’s rested. Then some kid on the team swims their first event, drops a crazy time, and everybody goes nuts. This energy starts building on the team where everyone’s like, ‘Yeah, we can do this, we can do this,’ and people start dropping time and swimming fast. That’s always the most fun part of the swim season for me, for sure.”
For his team members, Mills is both a coach and a mentor — the ideal role model. Captain of swimming Brianna Cong commented on how Mills is quite different from the other coaches she has had: “Coach Mills makes everyone feel like family. Before the season starts and at the end of the team banquet, Mills invites all 45 of us to his house for a cookout. Picture this — sitting in his backyard by the volleyball net, Coach Mills manning the grill, and his adorable dog Rosie running around. He’s like our team dad.”
She went on to praise Mills’s dedication to fostering a strong environment, saying, “For many of us, young and far from home, Coach Mills is more than just a coach — he gives us a home away from home. In his home, we find warmth, laughter, and a place where we truly belong. Most coaches wouldn’t go to such lengths, but Mills does, simply because he cares.”
Prep Elizabeth Li reflected on being new to the swim team and said, “The most important thing that Coach Mills has taught me is that, especially at this school, it is extremely difficult to improve every time we race due to the frequency of meets and the acclimation to this new environment and way of living. He has definitely reassured me a lot about not improving as much as I’d hoped to this season and continues to encourage me to try my best every time I step up to the block.”
For Mills, coaching isn’t about shaving seconds off a race or perfecting a flip turn. Instead, it’s about the people. It’s the karaoke sessions on the bus ride home after a long meet, the inside jokes during practice, and the way the team comes together when it matters most. Ask any of his swimmers, and they will tell you that Mills doesn’t just build fast athletes; he builds a team that feels like home. At the end of the day, that’s what keeps them coming back, diving in, and pushing forward.
