Go Beyond the Clipboard with D’Ann Luckey.
BRAWLEY — With individual and team efforts holding same value, competitive swim is truly a unique sport.
Brawley Union High’s swim coach D’Ann Luckey believes a fine balance must be found between the two if a team wants to be successful.
“Our athletes need to be able to perform at their absolute best but on the same time I want our team to win,” stated Luckey on balancing individual and team goals.
Winning is definitely something Luckey has done in her 20 years as head coach at the high school, with the Brawley girls’ winning 19 Imperial Valley League titles and 12 consecutive championships while the boys’ have won 12 titles and two consecutive championships.
Luckey, who was named 2012 CIF-San Diego Section Coach of the Year, was already familiar with the Brawley swim community before becoming the Wildcats’ coach as she coached the Sunstrokers, a Brawley summer recreational swim team, from 1989 to 2002.
Although she began swimming competitively a young age, the head coach did not discover her true love for the sport until she started to give swimming lessons.
She found satisfaction in properly teaching the sport rather than the competitiveness of it.
“The thing that really inspired me the most was being able teach people how to swim and make sure they are safe in the water and can enjoy swimming and have fun,” explained Luckey.
Throughout her career, the swim coach has found that being flexible with her athletes is a necessity.
“Always keep in mind that each swimmer is an individual and that they all have important things going on in their lives also. It’s not always about swimming,” stated the coach on her athletes.
Luckey described her love for coaching is just as strong as it ever was since she constantly has a new group of swimmers to teach every year.
“It’s going to be really sad when this season is over and my seniors are gone, but then I’m going to have another new crop of freshmen and who knows what the potential is,” said the Brawley coach.
The bittersweet fact that a new group of swimmers will step into her pool while another group exits is what constantly reignites Luckey’s passion to coach throughout career of more than 20 years.
“That’s why I can always enjoy this sport. It’s ever changing but still kind of the same,” stated Luckey.