As the Tellico Village Tarpons swim team continues to grow, a new need became evident this season.

The youngest swimmers on the team needed extra one-on-one coaching, so the Tarpons turned to some of their more seasoned team members to fill in with a junior coaching program.

“We were trying to think — we have just so many coaches and a lot more swimmers — how we could, especially with the younger group, get some additional help,” Tarpons coach Celia Harrison said. “We have some older swimmers, high school and middle school, who are just great swimmers and they have a lot of patience. We felt like we could pair them up one-on-one, and it would serve several purposes.

“One, it teaches the older swimmer who is helping about service and patience and being kind to people who are younger than you,” she said. “For the younger ones, it gives them that special one-on-one attention and somebody to direct them in learning how to be able to do the strokes properly.”

Junior coach Logan Wright said patience has been one of the big lessons for her early on in the process.

“I lose my temper a lot, but this has helped me be more patient and not lose my temper with them and be more relaxed with them,” she said. “It’s also made me a lot more responsible since these are other people’s kids and I have to care for them and help them.”

The young coaches also see a benefit in their own swimming because they’re getting a chance to look at the sport from a different perspective.

“It’s made me think more about what I do in the pool, so I know not to tell them wrong,” Emily Flatt said. “So if I’m doing something wrong I need to correct myself so I’m not being a hypocrite or something.”

Team work is also a focus of the program, and one that came naturally as those taking part began to work with the young swimmers.

Hannah Crisp said while each junior coach is matched up with a specific swimmer, they found themselves working together as well.

“We each have a swimmer that we’re responsible for, but we all kind of pitch in and help each other,” she said. “We help them with their stroke and any questions they have about competitive swimming.”

All of the Tarpons swim team coaches go through a DVD training program to help each coach deliver a uniform message during practices.

With the young coaches now pushing that message, it gives them a better understanding of what they’re being taught in their own practice sessions.

“It makes us understand the struggle of our coaches,” Amy Harrison said. “We don’t always pay attention to them. When we’re coaching the younger kids it helps us pay more attention to them as coaches.”

While the program is still in its infancy and there is a lot to figure out for how it will work out best, Celia Harrison said she was excited about its potential to benefit all swimmers involved.

“I think it will benefit them from a standpoint of service and helping, but I think it will also help them in their own swimming as well,” she said.