SUNY Potsdam Athletics

Alexander Taylor was a dominant swimmer for the Bears from 2009-13. He set Potsdam and SUNYAC records and claimed four conference titles and three All-SUNYAC honors.
 
Taylor played just about any sport he could when he was little, but was drawn to swimming.
 
"I really like the individual aspect of it," said Taylor. "You could you could walk away from a meet where the team loses, but everybody could still perform really well and you perform really well. It's so measurable that I could I could swim a 500 or a 100 Freestyle and be like, hey, you know what? I have a lifetime best today. If you didn't win, you got to walk out with your head held high."
 
Taylor continued to improve as a swimmer year after year, but was a self-described "late bloomer" and wasn't getting a lot of attention from college coaches. In addition, he decided to focus on SUNY schools in his college search.
 
"I think I had actually kind of narrowed it down to four or five of the SUNY schools that offered a history education program and also had a swim team," Taylor said. "And one of them was Potsdam."
 
While Taylor may have been missed or underestimated by some college coaches, retired Bears Coach Ken McLaughlin had him on his radar early.
 
"I remember Ken reached out to my high school coach about it," Taylor said. "And my high school coach asked me would you be interested in looking at Potsdam. That was the end of my junior year."
 
Taylor visited Potsdam during his senior year and it sold him on his choice. He met with some of his future teammates and some professors and was very excited with the possibilities.
 
"I went up there and liked the campus, liked the academic program and that was that," said Taylor. "My dad was going to force me to visit three college campuses. And that was the first one. I looked to him afterwards and said, 'why are we going to other college campuses?' It's going to be a waste of time. I made my decision."
 
Taylor arrived at Potsdam in the fall of 2009 and was quickly in the pool and getting to know his new teammates. He immediately felt comfortable with swimming at the college level, but had to adjust to new events due to some unforeseen roster changes.
 
"It was kind of funny," Taylor said. "I guess I'm known at Potsdam for being breaststroker, but I was recruited to be distance freestyle. My freshman year, we had two breaststrokers on the team. One got himself into academic and eligibility issues. Then the other was playing ultimate Frisbee the first week of school and tore his ACL. He was done for the year. I was recruited to be a freestyler and I knew where I stacked up there. Ken was scrambling to find a breaststroker. So we had time trials with everybody on the team just to figure out who the fastest was, and behold it with me."
 
Taylor was hesitant about the new event and pushed back with McLaughlin a bit, but ultimately accepted the transition.
 
Taylor battled through obstacle after obstacle during his freshman campaign. First, he was part of a swine flu wave that hit campus his first semester. Next, he contracted and recovered from pneumonia. After missing about a month of competition, Taylor rushed to get up to speed only to develop shoulder tendinitis. He also admits to not eating very healthy that season. Despite the bumpy road, he qualified for the SUNYAC Championships in Buffalo and had a solid meet. His first season experience lit a fire under him for the rest of his career.
 
"I had a good meet, considering the season that I had, but I knew it wasn't what I was capable of," said Taylor. "So I started training a lot harder after that, doing all the injury preventative stuff and eating healthier. And so those all kind of whipped me into gear to be better most of my sophomore year."
 
Another source of Taylor's motivation as a sophomore was the arrival of fellow breaststroker Richie Zimmerman '14.
 
"He was right on my heels and I didn't want to let him win," Taylor said. "He and I bonded right away. We were smack talking each other every day in practice. He was always one step behind me and that was kind of my extra motivator, to stay one step ahead of him."
 
With his improved diet and conditioning as well as Zimmerman right behind him, Taylor headed into sophomore season ready to breakout. He also had an eye on Potsdam's record books, knowing that even after an off year he wasn't that far from etching his name in Bears swimming history.
 
Taylor steadily improved throughout the 2010-11 season and entered the conference championships with momentum. In the Erie Community College Pool, he reached the A Final in the 200 IM, finishing seventh (1:59.30). Taylor then helped the Bears' 400 Medley, 200 Medley and 800 Freestyle Relay teams to respectable finishes. However, his first major accomplishment came in the 100 Breaststroke. After qualifying for the A Final, Taylor remembered preparing for the event.
 
"That was my first meet making the top eight," said Taylor. "They have the little ready rooms for top eight and I was I was a newcomer into that room."
 
The ready room would become much more familiar to Taylor as his career continued, but it started with the 100 Breaststroke. He soared to a second place finish and remembered the mixed emotions after the race.
 
"I honestly was kind of surprised that I came out in second place," Taylor said. "I knew I was going to be in contention, but I didn't go into that meet expecting to finish second. I was just shooting for school records. I was at 58.93 that year and the school record was a 58.89. So I shocked myself by being second place, but I was also kind of bummed that I missed the record by a fingernail length of the pool there."
 
The finish earned Taylor second team All-SUNYAC status, the first of three straight all-conference honors.
 
He entered his junior year in 2011-12 with a chip on his shoulder. Taylor was aware of who his main competitors were, who had graduated and that he was still getting faster. He was confident he could be the best in the SUNYAC. He wasn't just excelling in the breaststroke. In December at the Fredonia Invitational, he broke Potsdam's 21-year old 200 IM record and just missed the same feat in the 100 and 200 Breaststroke.
 
Taylor headed into the 2012 SUNYAC Championships very confident after a strong regular season and put on a show over the competition. He won his first title in the 100 Breaststroke with a then Potsdam record of 57.89. The following day he won the conference title in the 200 Breaststroke with a then school and SUNYAC record time of 2:06.61. Taylor also topped his Bears' 200 IM record with a time of 1:56.80 and helped the 800 Freestyle Relay team to a fourth place finish with a Potsdam record of 7:10.64. After his double-championship performance, first team All-SUNYAC honors and torching of the school record book, Taylor was voted Outstanding Male Swimmer of the Meet.
 
With a season remaining, Taylor learned that sustaining his success wasn't as exciting as achieving it in the previous season. Taylor had raised his and his opponents expectations and was in their sights.
 
"Senior year, it was kind of the expectation like you're going to win every race," said Taylor. "And it wasn't as fun that year. There were parts of the year I really enjoyed, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't quite the same. I wasn't there to prove myself at that point. I went in there and did my best and hit a bunch of lifetime bests that year. But it wasn't the same kind of just get up there, prove yourself and get after it."
 
Taylor and a strong supporting cast on the Bears men's team stormed through the 2012-13 regular season, posting a 6-0 dual meet record. Taylor was especially impressive with 19 solo victories and numerous relay wins in seven meets. He broke his own 200 Breaststroke record with a time of 2:06.12 and established a new Potsdam mark in the 400 IM (4:17.51). He was in prime form for the conference championships.
 
Defending his titles may not have been as much fun as winning them the first time, but Taylor excelled in that role as well. He claimed his second straight 100 Breaststroke championship with a Potsdam record time of 57.61. The following day, Taylor topped his Potsdam mark in the 200 Breaststroke in the preliminaries before setting a SUNYAC record of 2:05.48 to claim his fourth championship in two years. That record is still the Potsdam standard and lasted several years as the conference record before being bested. Taylor completed his collegiate career with another first team All-SUNYAC honor.
 
He claimed a final athletic accolade in May, as he was selected as the Male Maxcy/Molnar Award winner as Potsdam's top senior student-athlete. He graduated two weeks later with a B.A. in History and Education and then went on to pursue his master's at Alfred University for what he thought would eventually be a career in education.
 
"My plan was to be a teacher and that I would coach on the side," Taylor said. "Just like my high school coaches, who we're both teachers. One of them was actually a history teacher. That was, ironically, my favorite subject in high school. And so I kind of figured I'll teach or coach. That'll be my thing. And so I went Alfred because I was offered a grad assistantship there."
 
He enjoyed his time as graduate assistant coach with Saxons. He then got his first teaching position before he finished his master's just down the road with the Cuba-Rushford School District. Alfred Head Coach Brian Striker knew Taylor was busy with his new career, but ask if he could keep helping out. Taylor couldn't say no and coached a couple days a week. A few months into teaching, he realized it wasn't in his long term future.
 
"I had this 'Aha moment', talking to myself in the mirror one day," said Taylor. "I'm like, I don't have to stick with this long term. I was 25-26 at the time and I was like, you're in this for this year, make the most of it. But you're going to have opportunities. You'll have a few years of coaching under your belt, you've got your masters paid for. You can switch gears and go into coaching full time. And that's where you're really going to be happier. I always knew that I was a coach, I don't think I ever doubted that."
 
After coaching with Alfred from 2013-16 and teaching for the 2015-16 school year, Taylor went after a fulltime coaching career. He applied to be an assistant the with the brand new swimming program at Division I Mount Saint Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Md. He was offered the position in August 2016 and coached with the Mountaineers for three years, where he helped build a program from scratch. In addition to his assistant coaching duties, he served as recruiting coordinator and an adjunct instructor.
 
His coaching background and his reputation helped Taylor land his first head coaching position at Misericordia University in July 2019. His first year in charge of a program was one he'll never forget. He was thrown into the fire during his first semester and needed to rebuild his team culture quickly.
 
"I didn't feel like it was a successful year up until the very end," Taylor said. "I spent more time bashing my head against the wall and teaching the kids how to be good teammates than I did actually teaching them how to be better swimmers."
 
It was a frustrating season for the brand new head coach until about January. He cut some "bad apples" from the team and the situation started to turn around.
 
"And then all of a sudden everything clicked," said Taylor. "I mean athletically, the team was a very, very talented, hard working group. And you know, on paper, it looked like I had everything."
 
Taylor held a team meeting right before the 2020 Middle Atlantic Conference Championships. His women's team was picked fourth in the coaches poll.
 
"I looked at the women's team and said ladies, you're not going to finish fourth," Taylor said. "Let's go prove them wrong. You are not B Finalists. You guys are going to contend for the top. Let's stay humble. Let's stay after it, but get up on a block with a little chip on your shoulder and go after it."
 
After the first night of competition, Taylor's Cougars were in the lead. They had come from behind to unexpectedly win their first relay and set the tone. The first swim of the meet was a school record and the last was a conference record. His women's team continued to fire on all cylinders before being edged out of the championship into second on the final day. The performance was so unexpected that Taylor was voted the 2019-20 MAC Women's Coach of the Year.
 
"I didn't go into that meet thinking Coach of the Year," said Taylor. "I'm thinking, let me just get to the end of the year. It was a challenge that year, but overall it was a good experience."
 
Like it has been for most athletic programs around the country, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a major challenge for the new head coach. Thanks in part creativity and leadership, Taylor's program was able to compete in an abbreviated season last spring virtually, and finished third in the virtual MAC Championships. Taylor is pleased with the way his program is coming along as he heads into his third season at the helm.
 
"The team has come around a lot from a team culture standpoint," Taylor said. "And that's been great. I mean, this year (2020-21), they were fantastic. They were probably the one part about my year that has been better than previous seasons. We didn't have any seniors in this group. So we've got 30 athletes that are coming back. We've got nine more coming in. They're all great people too. So we're just going to keep getting a little bit bigger, a little bit better, a little bit faster."
 
The success Taylor had as a student and an athlete at SUNY Potsdam has carried over into his professional career. He's taken many good memories from his years as a Bear and looks back fondly.
 
"I really enjoyed my time there," said Taylor. "I mean, I had a hell of a lot of fun and made lot of good friends."