I’m Chris DeSantis, coach, athlete and host of the Swim Brief podcast.

I think swimming is the best sport in the world, because of the brilliant, determined people that it attracts. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from them it’s this:

“Fear is the easiest way to motivate yourself. Fear can always get you to take the next step;

Hope is what allows you to expand how far you can go”

What Drives people to be their best?

I started swimming when I was nine years old. At the end of the first year, I had the same thought I had at all the other sports I’d ever tried:

“I’m terrible at this”.

So I decided I wanted to quit. My mom, like most, was the guardian of all activities. I went to tell her I was through. What happened next changed the course of my life.

My mom opened a book with all of my times from that first year of swimming recorded. She asked me to look at it, and then make my final decision.

When I looked inside I saw where I started, and where I was. When I thought “I’m terrible”, what I really meant that I was afraid. Afraid that I would never be who I wanted to be.

Giving yourself a hard time about how “you’re not who you want to be” is not how you do your best. Your best future self is propelled by momentum you have already created.

Do you (or someone you know) wish you could:

  • Enjoy competing in the sport you love, even when you’re struggling

  • Make your commitment to sports something that improves everything else you do

  • View the hard work you do as a net positive in your life

  • Learn how to create more motivation for even more ambitious goals in the future

  • Make straining the limits of your potential ACTUALLY FUN

Many people focus on the “problems” and “sacrifices” of commiting to a sport. They are afraid that maybe they will work hard and not be who they want to be. It doesn’t have to be that way! The process of doing hard things can feel energizing and renewing.

Let’s Find a way to make sports what it should be: an Experience that enhances everything else you do.

How do I know this?

I have lived every inch of what I teach. I have struggled those struggles and been where you are. I’ve done the work to come out the other side.

The people I’ve coached learn to succeed in any situation and they take what they learn way beyond swimming.

I’ve been an outspoken voice for what’s right in sports for my entire adult life, even at moments when it’s cost me personally. I’ve never been afraid to challenge anyone, anywhere to make sports a better place for the people in it.

See the Opportunity in Any situation

When I coach I don’t have a set path for anyone. So if you’re feeling blocked, or you don’t like any of your options, I can help you find a path forward. I specialize in working with people whose potential doesn’t fit into conventional boxes.

If you’ve ever been told “you think too much”or that you just need to “think positively”, you have untapped potential that can be grown, developed and directed. Work with me and find out how to:

-Succeed anywhere- turn any situation, teammates, coaches, and parents into a positive one for you

-Harness your fear- Learn how pre-competition fear can lead to success

-Find more motivation- make working hard build you up instead of tearing you down

Recover the true Meaning of Sport

Above all I am proudest to be a coach. Coaching is a profession that called to me from my youngest years. In 2009, I became the first athletic coach in the world to get an advanced degree in Positive Psychology. It was at that same time that I began writing, podcasting and speaking to a wide audience within the swimming community alongside my coaching.

As a coach I’ve worked with countless national and international competitors. I’ve never viewed those results as the goal of what I do. I start with the goal of helping people be their best, results are a side effect.

I continue to compete because I’m still re-learning the first lesson sport taught me. When I look back at how far I’ve come I can’t possibly imagine quitting. In my life I want to be great- as a husband, a father, a competitor and for the people I coach. I know that the way to do that is not through fear. I have hope for what’s possible because of how I see what’s already been.

What do people say about me?