The Greenbelt Municipal Swim Team, also known as the Barracudas, welcomed Molly Sanborn, a lifelong swimmer and endurance athlete, as their new head coach in June.
Sanborn began swimming when she was just 5 years old, joining her neighborhood swim team while growing up in North Carolina. From a family of athletes, she has played many sports, but finds a deep connection with the water. She is especially drawn to open water and long-distance swimming.
Sanborn enjoys the Greenbelt community, living nearby in New Carrollton and spending countless hours training at the Greenbelt pool, where she’s witnessed the team’s strong community spirit. She was between jobs when the coaching position opened and is excited to get started.
“Coaching allows me to work directly with kids and see the positive impact up close,” said Sanborn. “I want to create a space where kids learn good technique and work hard, but also really enjoy themselves. For me and others I knew, some of our best swimming memories were with our summer swim team. Not just the high-level stuff, but being part of a fun team.”
Before becoming a coach, Sanborn earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Richmond and a master’s in global health epidemiology from George Washington University. She worked in public health emergency preparedness at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Though her federal work was impactful, she decided to shift her career toward coaching to be around swimming more often and make a direct difference to her community.
“I’m really drawn to coaching because you can work one-on-one with kids and see how much this sport impacts them in a positive way. Yeah, you’re going to affect less people, but probably more deeply,” said Sanborn.
One of Sanborn’s proudest moments as a swimmer came when she swam the English Channel in 2023. “It was 14 ½ hours,” she said. “I got in at night which was very difficult. Mentally, it was very hard to get through that because it was very cold, choppy, dark and disorienting.”
Despite the physical and mental challenges, Sanborn’s mother joined her for part of the swim, turning the challenge into a profoundly meaningful family moment.
“My mom swam it as my support swimmer. She got in at sunrise and swam with me for an hour. It was a very lovely thing to experience with my mom, who was the reason I fell in love with swimming. It was a very emotional thing, getting to do that with her.”
Sanborn plans to train for more long-distance open water swims in the future, but wants to prioritize coaching. “Right now I’m focusing on coaching, but I’d like to do another big swim, maybe Lake Tahoe or the Catalina Channel,” she said. “There are so many beautiful places to explore through swimming. It’s a way to stay healthy, find peace, and see the world.”
Ellie Jornlin is a student at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism interning at the Greenbelt News Review.
