Resident Program Returns with Focus on Culture, Community and LA28 Success

U.S. Paralympics Swimming resident team head coach Cole Hensley uses the word “team” to describe what program leaders are building very deliberately. 

The program, which was dissolved following the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, has been revived and revamped to not only prepare athletes for the Los Angeles Games in 2028 but also to build a lasting culture and identity within U.S. Para swimming. 

The first athletes joined the project in Colorado Springs, Colorado, this spring. 

“We have the elite training environment, we have the right staff, we’ve got the right strength and conditioning, the right coaches,” Hensley said. “So it’s just about finding the right people to get this started and being very intentional about building out our core values and our culture to make sure that everyone's on board. 

“And when other athletes trickle in, they know that. They know this is what we’re training for, this is our mission, this is our vision, and this is how we’re going to do it.” 

Building a strong culture, Hensley said, is a foundational pillar of his coaching philosophy. In reimagining the resident team program, Hensley and U.S. Paralympics Swimming director Amanda Duke Boulet identified the need to create a space where each athlete feels they’re getting individualized, focused training that’s best suited to their specific needs and goals. Another priority is putting together a group of athletes who hold each other up and support each other, Hensley said. 

From a training standpoint, athletes will have eight to nine practices a week along with strength and conditioning work. They’ll also have access to the technology at the United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Center, including a high-tech Synchronized Multi-Angle Replay Technology system. 

“It’s this amazing 12 camera setup that allows you to see a lot of different angles of athlete strokes, their turns, their details,” said Hensley, a former Florida State swimmer and 2016 Olympic trials competitor who taught physics while coaching club swimming before joining U.S. Paralympics Swimming this year. “My physics background has provided me a rather unique lens in terms of biomechanics and the actual mechanics of moving through water and trying to figure out what are some efficiencies that we can find there.” 

Hensley said the team will also collaborate with the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s sports science department to track a wealth of data, such as heart rate, tempo, volume, glucose and lactate, in addition to testing with strength and conditioning coaches. 

All that information will inform the decisions they’re making in the pool. 

“And sharing that data with the athletes to show growth and also make sure that the athletes are part of the process,” he said.  

Paralympian Noah Jaffe was the first athlete to join the resident team program. The timing was perfect for the silver and bronze medalist in Paris, because he recently graduated from University of California, Berkeley as a biochemistry major and was seeking his next step in training for a return to the Paralympics in 2028. 

“I’m excited that the resident team is back because it is a super unique and valuable resource for Para athletes,” he said. “It’s rare to be a part of a program specifically designed for athletes with disabilities. I believe the resident team will be instrumental in Team USA’s success leading up to Los Angeles not only by developing new athletes but also by re-motivating veterans.” 

As of May, the resident team consists of six swimmers. Hensley expects the program to continue growing as the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games approach, though the focus remains on building the right training environment and supporting athletes who are a good fit for the Resident Team experience. 

“We are trying to create a team and we’re trying to create that team with the right people,” he said. “So we’re making sure we’re intentional about the process of selecting what athletes we believe will get the most out of this process.” 

Athletes will need to show progress in the program. Whether that’s advancing in the world rankings, moving through the internal pipeline from “emerging athlete” through the “A” team, improving technique and time, or some other metric, will depend on the swimmer. But they’ll have regular conversations, Hensley said, about tracking performance and goals. 

“And if we start to fall off those goals, we’ll talk about what we need to do to bring us back towards that trajectory toward the Games,” he said. 

The Resident Program takes a holistic approach to athlete development. While the training and performance goals are key, Hensley said they also emphasize mental preparedness as well as preparing athletes for life beyond the sport. Resident athletes have access to dietitian, sports psychology, and sports medicine services, as well as a dining hall focused on nutrient-rich offerings designed to support high-performance athletes. 

“It’s about giving these athletes a space where they can feel like they are being fully supported in their dreams and fully supported in their mission of finding the highest level of success while also having this amazing community around them and one of the cooler training environments that you can get,” Hensley said. “I think it’s just a super exciting space to live in, and I hope that the athletes start to feel that as well.” 

To learn more about the U.S. Paralympics Swimming Resident Program, including how to apply, visit https://www.usparaswimming.org/resident-program. 

Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic and Paralympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to USParaSwimming.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.