When Chad Mylin quit his teaching job in Arizona, he never would have imagined himself packing up his car to drive to Austin. He said applying to volunteer at the University of Texas seemed like a “shot in the dark.”
After two years of volunteering for the Texas women’s swim and dive and helping with some of the program’s best performances, Mylin officially joined the staff after being hired as full-time assistant coach in July.
“I thought of volunteering as almost like a grad program,” Mylin said. “I’m learning under the best coaches and in the best facility in the country.”
Prior to Texas, Mylin was a three-time ACC conference medalist for Florida State swim and dive, joining as a walk-on in 2014. He still ranks eighth in their program history for his 19.32 second 50-meter freestyle and was a part of three 200-meter freestyle relay teams that rank in the top 10 in the school’s history.
With his new role as Texas’ women’s swim and dive assistant coach, Mylin believes keeping the golden rule at the core of his coaching style is crucial in building relationships with athletes.
“I want to coach and live by the golden rule, treat others like you want to be treated,” Mylin said. “I always look at these swimmers and how I would want to be approached at this moment.”
Part of this philosophy is treating swimmers as people first and athletes second. Mylin recognizes these women have school and life outside of their sport.
Mylin learned a lot from his superiors, including how to set an example of authenticity, helping foster friendships between athletes both in and out of the pool. Texas head coach Carol Capitani has coached the Longhorns through 11 seasons, with associate head Coach Mitch Dalton joining her in 2020.
“They want to compete. They want to be successful, but they want to do it their own way,” Mylin said. “They don’t want to show off for anybody else or act like they’re being someone else.”
Since Mylin joined the coaching team, Capitani noticed that his relationships with athletes have improved the team culture.
“Chad has demonstrated his ability to form meaningful relationships with our athletes,” Capitani said to Swim Swam. “His infectious energy and unwavering positivity are huge assets to our team culture.”
This past season, the Longhorns successfully earned all relays All-American, top eight in the country. Mylin believes that with the right mindset, the Longhorns can succeed in the upcoming season.
The new staff member reminds swimmers of winning the swim meets in the mornings, even though scores aren’t usually released until the evening.
“People can go on autopilot especially if they’re in those higher seeds,” Mylin said. “You can’t score those points at night if you don’t get into the finals in the morning.”
With his new role, he has also started to recruit new additions for the upcoming season.
“We’re still trying to get some of the best of the best because I think we’re at that level now,” Mylin said. “We’re competing for national championships and we want to become the best in Texas.”
