From a young age, Ellen Johnston swam.
The Fairfield native learned at the Black Rock Yacht Club. She subscribed to Swimming World, and read Doc Counsilman’s groundbreaking “The Science of Swimming.”
“I was a total swimming geek,” she says.
But her first day at the University of South Carolina pool was overwhelming. She felt like “a goldfish in the ocean.” That was the end of her competitive career.
As a swimmer, that is.
While still at Roger Ludlowe High School, Johnston had coached Fairfield YMCA 8-and-unders. She was also a team administrators, joining as a teenager in meetings with adults.
Two years after leaving the pool, Johnston became the South Carolina swim team’s manager. “That put me back on course,” she says — figuratively and literally.
Ellen Johnston
Though she majored in business, and planned to become a sports lawyer, she enjoyed coaching too much.
Johnston started at a club with Bob Bowman — Michael Phelps’ future coach. She worked at the 1984 Olympics trials, the first one for Rowdy Gaines. She spent 2 years as head age group coach in Bowie, Maryland.
In 1986, while rehabbing a knee injury at the Fairfield Y, she connected with Bill Krumm, the Westport Y’s head coach.
She had never planned to remain in this area.
Forty years later, Johnston is still here.
Over 4 decades she has made her mark, as a demanding but much loved swim coach.
She’s made an impact too at high levels, as an administrator with Connecticut Swimming and national committees. She’s currently on the board of the American Swim Coaches Association.
In 2014, as the new Westport Y prepared to open, Ellen Johnston took a ceremonial turn at the hose.
On January 23, the Westport Weston Family YMCA will honor Johnston for her 40 years of service. It’s the latest recognition in a career that includes YMCA National Coach of the Year in 2015, and multiple Connecticut Senior Coach of the Year awards.
It’s not a retirement ceremony. She’s still coaching and organizing — as enthusiastically as ever.
Krumm “allowed me to spread my wings,” Johnston says. The Water Rats were then — and still are — a quality program. They’re also “a real family.”
As a coach, she takes the long view. In today’s world, when youngsters — and their parents — want “instant results, answers and success,” Johnston offers something else: a path toward the future.
Ellen Johnston, in action.
She does not want her swimmers to burn out. She hopes they’ll continue to love swimming, in high school and beyond.
Johnston — who was named Westport Y head coach in 2012 — gives credit to her “phenomenal” staff. Kristen Finnegan was last year’s state Coach of the Year; she’s joined by Kristen Finnegan, Todd Stevens, Maura O’Grady and others. In the summer, college alumni come back to help.
Right now, over 180 Water Rats compete at every level. That includes Matthew Torres, who has won 2 Paralympics bronze medals.
Paralympics bronze medalist Matthew Torres honors Ellen Johnston.
Like any good coach, Johnston is constantly adapting. “I coach differently now than I did earlier — even 5 or 10 years ago,” she says. “Life is always about learning.”
Boys and girls today “are not as athletic as they once were,” she notes. “That’s true of all sports.” She encourages them to try many activities besides swimming. too.
In her 40 years with the Westport Y, Johnston has seen many other changes. She’s moved from the Stauffer and Brophy pools — the latter a cramped 17-yard facility — to the current 25-yard one.
Still, she says, “water is water. Good swimmers come out of all kinds of pools.”
Johnston has spent 4 decades developing excellent swimmers. Her great reward is not medals, though; it’s watching them grow into good adults, knowing that swimming has helped them set individual goals, while also being part of a team bigger than themselves.
Unlike many sports, swimming is completely objective. Results are timed, down to hundredths of a second.
“You go out to be the best you can be,” Johnston says.
“You’ll trip, stumble and fall. Sometimes you have to do it yourself. But we’ll be there to help pick you up.”
Just as Ellen Johnston has done for 40 years, as a Westport YMCA legend.
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