‘She was our mother’: Tsunami swim team seeks peace after losing head coach
Rushmore Tsunami celebrate the life of the late Beth Eldridge with hot pink t-shirts at weekend swim meet
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - “Coach Beth” as her swimmers called her, loved many things in life. Although, she especially loved the Green Bay Packers, the color pink and most of all, the people around her.
Beth Eldridge passed away on June 5 of this year after battling physical and mental health issues.
This weekend, the Rapid City Rushmore Tsunami family honored her at the 2024 Rushmore Classic Swim meet by wearing one of her favorite colors.
“In the swimming community here, she was an icon,” Tsunami head coach Dave Swank said.
Coach Beth, in her hot pink getup, was larger than life. And the one’s she loved are now remembering what life was like when she was still here.
“I cried for like endless nights, but I just feel like it’s brought us together closer and closer because she was our mother as a team,” Tsunami rising sophomore Zoe Guillory said.
Coach Beth was more than a coach. She was a mother, and a friend to all. She pushed those around her to follow their passions and to help young kids grow.
“I was always willing to put in that time just because she was so dedicated, and you didn’t want to let her down, you didn’t want to let the kids down,” Swank said of his involvement.
Although Beth’s favorite color was blue, the hot pink swag was an identity trait.
“You couldn’t see her a day without a bright pink shirt, a bright pink headband, bright pink shoes,” Guillory laughed.
“So many people, the lifeguards, the swimmers, the parents, masters, everyone knew Beth, she had such a big impact on everybody,” Tsunami rising junior Hunter Johnson said.
There’s no replacing coach Beth Eldridge, and the Tsunami aren’t even going to try. However, they are going to rally around each other, and make darn sure, her legacy lives on.
“The hole that her absence leaves is huge,” Swank said. “And we’re not going to fill that with any one person. There’s nobody that’s going to come in with Beth’s level of expertise as a coach, her credentials as a swimmer and just her outsized personality.”
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