In Memoriam * Paul E. Fortoul * 1958 - 2007
As Jane described, we both met Paul in 1982 at the CCNY pool where Marcy was head coach and Paul was one of the assistants. Over the next 15 years, I worked with Paul in, when I last counted, in 9 different nyc pools. He was a complex figure with many sides, which, for the most part, remained private. On deck and in the water, though, he put himself out there. He was quite a talented swimmer, astonishing us with performances in 200 fly and the 400 IM, with far less training than most. In his passion for the sport, however, he faced a dilemma as to whether he should swim or coach. For a while, he did both.
As a coach and swimmer myself, I understood the impossibility of doing both to the best of one's ability. I have no clear answer for the dilemma except to go where your heart is. In time, I saw Paul go with his heart and choose coaching. He may have experienced some ambivalence, but it was a choice from which many of us benefited.
Why did he make this choice? As we all know, swimming can be a lonely sport. Though we train and swim on teams, we don't pass a ball to one another. We swim solo from beginning to end. Coaching, on the other hand, opens the opportunity to connect with not just one swimmer but many swimmers and guide them to achieve their deeply held goals. This is the opportunity Paul grasped.
Strong and fluent in the water, Paul was somewhat of an odd figure on deck. That tan vest, pockets bursting with paperwork, those multiple stopwatches and the oversized spectacles perched on the end of his nose presented a pretty eccentric facade. At the same time, Paul was gifted with an extraordinarily bright and capable mind which he applied to the sport he loved. Those of us who swam for Paul came to see that his coaching skills bordered on genius. To top that off, he is the only person I ever knew that could start a half dozen stop watches at the same time and keep track of which was tracking which swimmer. He could then recite the splits almost from memory.
Masters swimming brings together the experienced and the novice of all ages -- the ambitious and the placid, the curious and the close-minded, the high-maintenance and the ones who come just to take a shower, those who eventually get it and those who never do. This can leave a coach pretty much in the dark. But Paul was smart and he was committed to the challenge to sort things out. To begin with in a 5,000 yard workout, things get sorted out pretty quickly, and when Paul sensed a swimmer's agenda, it became his.
Working with people on the edge, where trust is a key element to success inevitably sends coaches and swimmers into various demonstrative antics. From a coach's perspective, I must say that the antics in the pool will outdo any two coaches on deck. So to any of you who found Paul a bit odd, I will tell you it was an even match. He rarely wavered, he kept his focus and he hoped that you would keep yours.
His computer trained mind created a model for each swimmer, in which he recorded splits from workouts and meets, analysis and observation, and which he reexamined and refined for years. Yet he also recognized that in masters' swimming, setting the goals was each swimmer's personal responsibility. Paul understood and respected this, and planned his workouts accordingly.
Paul would approach a swimmer in the middle of a workout, in the seconds between sets, and suggest a move into a faster lane. The swimmer would react: "What? Paul, are you nuts?" But for Paul, the swimmer's ability to make a faster set was a done deal. His analysis was complete and he was passing the information to the swimmer like passing a ball. Now that the swimmer has the ball, in the moments before the next set starts, the question hangs in the chlorinated air. A 15 minute set is coming up. That 15 minute set is yours. You couldn't have it yesterday, you may not have it tomorrow, but you can have it now. Why not take it? .
As a swimmer, you do what the coach says. It's part of the program. And you find out to your surprise that the set is easy. You're not even that tired. What a moment! And if you happen to look at Paul, you will see a smile that says "You just got your wings." That connection with you as a swimmer was what Paul sought. It was his moment because it was your moment. He passed the ball. You took it. You both won.
Paul left us too soon. He had chosen a difficult field in an arena where dealing with trust, goals, commitment puts you at personal risk. He didn't take the safe route, and his choice was sometimes tough and sometimes unhappy. But for him it was the right choice. He gave the sport his all, and I will forever admire him for that.
And I close with just one last thought. Paul has not passed his last ball. The next time you reach a crossroad and doubt your ability to overcome a challenge, think of that figure in the tan vest, the multiple stopwatches, the glasses perched on the end of his nose. Ask yourself "Why not?" And go for it.