Water in their blood

At 6 months old, Patrick Topps was showing other babies how to swim, reaching for plastic toys and blowing bubbles.

“He was my model,” mom and swim coach Randi Topps said.

Randi, whose passion for swimming spans 40 years, has spent her spare time since college teaching and coaching swimming. When her high school didn’t have a girls’ swim team, she joined the boys’.

And so, her sons, Patrick and Martin Topps, were always around swimming, as models in her infant swimming classes and then students. And like their mom, they started competing a little late when they joined Winter Park High School swim teams as seniors. Randi said she never pushed them to participate in the sport, but was happy they found it.

“They kind of followed the passion,” she said.

And now, they’re back with their mom, but not as models. Last summer, after Patrick returned from studying at the University of Florida, the three of them connected their passions and skills for swimming to teach others — a family of swim coaches.

“It’s really great to have something in common with them that we all love,” Randi said.

Randi, who is a P.E. teacher at Brookshire Elementary, coaches a swim club at Cady Way Pool, while Martin and Patrick coach the Cady Way Barracudas, with junior varsity and varsity members from 5 to 12 years old. They spend every weekday afternoon together, showing kids how to be better swimmers.

Patrick said he couldn’t have had a better teacher than his mom, who has 35 years of coaching experience.

“I’ve learned a lot from my mom,” he said.

And the kids sense that. Randi said they respect her more, and listen better, because they know that their “cool” coaches have been doing what she says since they were born.

The brothers take their coaching seriously, know each child by name and talk to them like adults. They know that what they’re teaching isn’t just swimming, but skills the kids can use for their entire lives. As they swim loads of laps and learn new strokes and kicks, they’re getting much more.

“They challenge us,” said Rebekah Ryan, an 11-year-old on the Cady Way Barracudas.

“Anything worth doing definitely takes a lot of hard work and dedication, and in the future, they’ll have that attitude,” said Martin, a student at UCF.

The moms said they like the one-on-one attention and that their children really look up to their coaches. Jamie Cochran, who has twin 6-year-old sons, also likes how Randi — from lots of experience — knows how to handle little boys.

“They clearly love the kids,” she said.

The family also loves seeing that the wisdom they’re imparting on their students is actually retained. Patrick said it’s fun to see them enjoy “just about everything” he shows them, and the excitement they have about new skills.

“You definitely get to see them get better; they improve dramatically … and that’s pretty rewarding,” Martin said.

So, what started as Randi’s mission to teach everyone in Florida how to swim — when she moved here with her family, she was shocked to find that many Floridians didn’t know how — has really come to fruition, at least in the time she’s spent in Winter Park. Her enthusiasm for the sport has not only transferred to her sons, but the children she sees every day as a coach.

“I want them to have the same love for swimming that I have,” she said. “They just soak it up.”

Learn more

The Topps have several swimming camps lined up this summer in June and July. Call 407-644-1509 for more information.