I’ve had 13 coaches in 10 years of swimming.
But only one stands out – Jimmy Adams. He is one of the best coaches I have ever had and he is leaving DHS.
Adams was my swim coach when I was little, so I was excited to come to high school last year and swim for him again. Then on Thursday, Adams told the girls at practice that he will not be returning to Derby next year and will be going to Wichita Southeast.
I was devastated. And that won’t change anytime soon.
You might say, “you’re being dramatic.” But I’m not. Adams is one of the best coaches in Derby history and I will stand by that for the rest of my life.
He won the Class 6A boys swim coach of the year at the state meet in February. He won seven straight AVCTL I boys titles. The girls team has their sights on their seventh straight AVCTL I title with Adams as coach.
I know he was very successful with cross country, as well, and I know most of his athletes love him.
Adams is a tough, strict coach, but I’d rather have that than a coach who lets everyone goof off. He knows what he’s doing and he does it well. Even when he yells at us during practice or makes us do up-downs, he is still my favorite coach.
I’m still in disbelief that he’s leaving, and I probably won’t fully understand until the 2026 season starts.
The swim team still has our league swim meet on Saturday at Maize, and then the Class 6A meet is May 23-24 in Topeka.
It’s going to suck. I am going to sob. But I want to win our seventh consecutive AVCTL I title for him.
He told me about a week ago that I would have to be a leader because “there won’t be many seniors next year.”
But now I know what he truly meant. He meant that I needed to be a leader because he wasn’t going to be there. I need to be a leader because I do not want the swim program to fall apart without him. We need upperclassmen to keep it together.
I respect and understand his decision to leave, but we’re all going to miss him – all of his runners and swimmers.
He cares so much about all of us and I care so much about him.