BRIDGEWATER, VA. – Ethan Coleman’s mom danced around the kitchen. He found himself feeling embarrassed, but he couldn’t exactly figure out why. No one was home, just he and his mom, but he was bothered. So, she sat him down one day and asked him why he was embarrassed. Why did it bother him? She was in her house, and no one else could see. He says, “She made some decent points, because why did I care?” That day, Coleman’s mom created a monster who started wearing random stuff to random places.

According to the Bridgewater College Athletics Website, Coleman, more well-known as Coach Ethan, joined the Bridgewater College Eagles as a part-time assistant men’s and women’s swim coach in 2021 and was promoted to a full-time position in 2023. 

Coleman earned the full-time position through his athletes’ love for his unique character and the team’s success. Both teams earned fifth-place finishes at the ODAC championships and broke double-digit records cumulatively.

The collection

Coleman has quite an extensive collection of humorous graphic t-shirts.

“I used to follow a Twitter account called Shirts that Go Hard, and that was basically the premise,” Coleman said. “I would be on Twitter and just see something funny, then I would buy it. I bought one shirt, and then I bought another.”

Coleman said the first shirt he recalls getting said, “Doctor Pepper is a Woman.”

Coleman said that the shirts are great conversation starters when out in public, but not always the best conversations.

“I wore a shirt that said cute, smart, and vaccinated with a green check mark in the box next to vaccinated, and a woman walked up to me and told me what an awful shirt that was,” Coleman said.

Coleman said that he has a lot of shirts with jokes that are niche, and many people don’t understand them. When asked, he doesn’t know how to describe them other than to say,  “This sentence was funny to me.”

“That’s usually what entertains me the most, is just to watch somebody’s reaction to a shirt they don’t understand,” Coleman said. “ I have one that’s broken English that says ‘Buy A man, Eat Fish, He Day. Teach Fish Man To A Lifetime.’”

Coleman said that sometimes he wears a conversation starter, but does not feel social. He thinks that confuses some people.

“I’m wearing this shirt for someone to come talk to me. And then they talk to me, and I’m like ‘Stop Doing That,’” Coleman said. “Arguably, I am wearing them for attention, so I can’t necessarily be upset that I got what I wanted, attention.”

Dressing it up 

Coleman’s collection of fun outfits expands beyond just graphic t-shirts. He also has a vast collection of patterned dress suits. When asked about how many suits he has, Coleman did not hesitate at all before saying, “Too many.”

Coleman said he traditionally wears suits at swim meets, but not everyone at meets particularly enjoys his choice of outfits.

“I’ve gone sometimes and coaches look at me and are like ‘cool,’ that’s really fun that you are doing that, and then I’ve had other coaches who maybe don’t say it, but they give me a look that I’m not taking this seriously enough,” Coleman said.

Coleman said he isn’t concerned with their opinions, though.

“It shouldn’t be that big of a deal, like it’s fun, and it should be fun or should be encouraged, “ Coleman said.” I think a big thing that I try to do is bring a sense of humor into the sport.” 

Coleman said he thinks dressing up in a fun way can take what can be a stressful situation, such as a conference swim meet, and make it a little less stressful.

“There’s a level to it that it’s like, we don’t need to be making this bigger than it is,”  Coleman said.” It’s a swim meet, you know, it’s not the end of the world.”

According to athletes, Coleman’s intention with dressing up is successful in taking the pressure off.

“It’s just fun, like everyone’s hyped up, and it’s very serious,” Nate Herrman, senior Captain on the Bridgewater College Men’s Swimming Team, said.”  If we keep things too serious, we kind of like, choke ourselves out, so we need that fun and goofiness,” 

Saint Practice Day

Coleman also has traditions where he wears certain outfits on certain days. The most well-known by the swim team is “Saint Practice Day.” The tradition is that on the 17th of every month, he dresses up in a green outfit as if it were Saint Patrick’s Day, and encourages others to do so as well.

Coleman said that Saint Practice Day was something that he and his friends stumbled upon at a local restaurant. 

“We walked in and were very confused as to why people were wearing green because it was like May,” Coleman said. “We asked people why they were dressed up, and they just said, ‘It’s Saint Practice Day,’” 

Coleman said that the next month, he and his friends started doing it. He started it by dressing up for his club swim team practice, to which they asked, “Why are you dressed like that?” He replied, “It’s Saint Practice Day.”

Coleman said he brought the Saint Practice Day tradition to Bridgewater College to make practice more enjoyable for the athletes.

“I think there’s a level to it that keeps practice a bit more fun when your coach walks in, and they’re just like ‘I don’t know why he’s dressed like that, but he just walked in,’” Coleman said. “My favorite is when first-years come on the team and don’t ask me why I’m doing it, because one day I just walk in in a green suit and they’re just like, I guess that’s normal.” 

Coleman tries to get the athletes involved in Saint Practice Day as well. He includes it in the swim team’s year-long competition between “nests” on the swim team, where the team is split into four groups and compete in different ways for nest points throughout the year.

“Sometimes you can wear a green t-shirt, and I think it’s enough, I’ll give them nest points, Coleman said. “If you wear an outfit to class like I do to practice and be willing to embarrass yourself, then I’ll give extra nest points. No one has taken me up on that offer yet.” 

Why dress this way?

Coleman’s attempt to make the sport more fun is based on his experience as a swimmer.

“My big thing that I remember about swimming is the parts that sucked,” Coleman said. “Even to the point that you’re really good at it, it should still be something you enjoy to do.”

According to the 2aDays Blog, when athletes are enjoying their physical activity, endorphins are released. In a sports context, the release of endorphins during exercise can boost an athlete’s confidence and make them feel better mentally and physically.

Coleman said that if he can make the hard parts more enjoyable, then that is something he is going to do.  He said that although he has done this for a while, he still gets embarrassed sometimes, but he still wants to bring the fun for the athletes.

This isn’t something new

Although the t-shirts and suits are the current bit in Ethan’s life, he’s always gone all out with these outfits on occasions ever since the conversation with his mom as a child.

Coleman said that he always went all out for big outfit days at school, in terms of school spirit, “no one’s gonna be better than me.”

“It’s almost my competitive aspect of like no one’s allowed to go further than I will go,” Coleman said.

“Oh no, no one can beat him, no one has the same dedication to the bit that Ethan does,” Andrea Cibrario, senior captain on the Bridgewater College Men’s Swimming Team, said.

 “No one is willing to wear a suit that much on a hot pool deck for that long.” 

Coleman said he remembers seeing another swim coach wear a bright yellow suit on the last day of a meet, so he decided to wear a suit on all competition days.

“I got to a point where it’s like, no one’s ever going to top me if they decide to dress up, they have to commit to four days, and they have to go bigger than me, which is going to be difficult to do,” Coleman said.