In 2011, Chris Payson was coaching age group swimmers at Crimson Aquatics in the Whitinsville (Massachusetts) Community Center. He’d been coaching with that satellite of the high-powered Harvard University–based USA Swimming club in Cambridge since 2007, but realized something was missing. He resigned and considered his next move.
After fielding several calls from past swimmers looking for his assistance, Payson was drawn back to the coaching profession. And this time, he would launch his own program, the now-thriving Shamrock Swim Club. The team started out at the Cumberland High School pool in Cumberland, Rhode Island, and later relocated to Milton, Massachusetts.
Payson was a swimmer growing up, competing for Bishop Feehan High School in the 1980s before they actually had a swim team. He went on to swim at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In the late 1980s, he took up coaching, working with swimmers at the Hockomock YMCA and the Attleboro Bluefish. In the 1990s, he coached part-time with the Cumberland Area Swim Team while working alongside his father in the family construction business.
But swimming, and coaching swimmers to be precise, has always been Payson’s driving passion. In developing the Shamrock Swim Club, Payson has built a high-powered age group club, as well as a Masters program for adult swimmers who want to swim faster, better, and with friends.
Using new ideas, innovative training techniques and a tireless work ethic, Payson grew the Shamrock Swim Club Masters from a tiny club with a handful of members in 2012 to a solid team of more than 40 swimmers today.
In writing workouts, Payson seeks to scale the sessions to each swimmers’ ability level. Using progressive approaches and new technologies, he helps swimmers improve their speed and technique. As a result, several Shamrock Swim Club Members have notched top age group finishes at regional National Championship meets and reached the podium in local open water swimming events.
An active, engaged member of the New England LMSC, Payson regularly participates in and contributes to meets, workshops, clinics, and other events that promote the sport of swimming. Always willing to share his expertise and knowledge with fellow coaches and swimmers, Payson’s collegial attitude has helped foster a culture of friendly competition within New England.