Meet Cambridge swimming & diving head coach Lauren Hall
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Lauren Hall is the head swimming and diving coach at Cambridge High School. Coach Hall began her coaching career as early as 18 years old and has been coaching for almost two decades now. She has been the head coach of the swimming and diving team at Cambridge since they opened in 2012.
Hall grew up in California where she competed in swimming and water polo in high school. She continued competing in both sports in college at Connecticut College. Hall has coached at various schools in California as well as Loyola University of Maryland before moving to Georgia.
Hall says her role models have always been her coaches. 鈥淚 desperately wanted to make my coaches proud and make them not regret taking a chance on me. I will always remember Coach Schmidt (my first water polo coach) saying that I could grip the ball as a freshman so he would give me a chance. I feel that every coach I have had has always taken a chance with me!鈥�
She is thankful for the positive impact and encouragement she received from her coaches. Hall relates to her athletes better because of her experiences as an athlete. She understands the challenges and struggles an athlete feels and how influential a coach can be during those vulnerable times. 鈥淚 also try to remember that I don鈥檛 know everything going on in my athletes鈥� lives and so I try to be there for them and make sure they always know that I care about them. You ever know when that鈥檚 going to make the difference,鈥� Hall says.
There are a few approaches Hall deems important when coaching young athletes. 鈥淔irst you need to coach the whole athlete. It isn鈥檛 just about coaching what they do in the water, it鈥檚 about coaching them as a person and how to take care of themselves. What we do is tackle everything from nutrition, to hydration, to reset and recovery.”
Her most memorable win was the 2020 State Championship. “Watching our girls on deck was magical. They were screaming for each other in every race, they got themselves hyped up for their relays, and just had the best night. I was in awe of their performances.”
Hall has coached many successful athletes who have gone on to compete in Olympic Trials or have competed in Division I swimming after Cambridge. “I take zero credit for their success. I bring them together, but they do all of the work. One of the coolest moments was when I got to watch one of our swimmers, Sophie Brison, swim at Olympic Trials. I was watching from home, and I got to watch her win Wave II in her event to qualify for her to move on to Wave I of trials. That was special beyond words,” she says.
She believes her athletes are capable of more than they think they are. Hall is the best kind of coach any parent could ask for! Winning is not her only goal. She is truly making a positive impact on these young minds. 鈥淎t the end of every season, athletes and their parents always tell me how much I inspire their kids and it always catches me off-guard because I never feel like I did enough,鈥� she says.
Hall hopes to be remembered most for caring about her students and athletes. 鈥淚 call them 鈥榤y kids鈥� because often I spend more time with them than my own biological children during the season! I hope I will always be remembered as someone who tried to make them good athletes, but also good teammates and good human beings. No matter where you go after Cambridge, you will always have a cheering squad here with me, believing in you and supporting you! Lastly, I hope they will remember to lift up those around them and that they are capable of doing hard things!鈥�
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