The University of Texas (Permian Basin)

"Coach Graham is an innovator in starting and turning teams around. She sets a fair expectations for her athletes to follow. She knows how to get the athletes to motivate, and if they fail to perform, she knows how to shake the tree to get rid of the bad fruit. She leaves choices for the athletes to make and most don’t follow the path to hard work. If you have Coach Betsy as a coach, you made a good choice. "

"Betsy Graham was an exceptional coach during my final two years under her guidance at UTPB. She arrived in my junior year, inheriting a team lacking structure and discipline from the previous coach, who fostered a party-like atmosphere. Coach Graham implemented rules and brought about significant changes, which some on the team resisted. However, she held us to standards, expecting punctuality, dedication to improvement, and academic excellence. Despite facing resistance, she recruited faster swimmers to enhance the team's competitiveness, prompting some to leave due to their unwillingness to adapt. Coach Graham provided candid feedback on my performance, investing time to help me improve. While my scholarship was partially reduced due to academic and performance reasons, she could have revoked it entirely, yet chose not to, allowing those who proved themselves to retain their scholarships. Some teammates departed as a result of scholarship reductions, but Coach Graham's fairness ultimately improved the team's environment, gradually weeding out dissenters. Blaming her for any loss of passion for swimming is misguided; it was their resistance to change that led to their discontent. It's time for these former teammates to mature and take responsibility for their own choices."

"My swimmer was recruited before Betsy became the coach, I wish we would’ve known what we were getting into before she came. My kid worked very hard for 3.5 years before an injury. After the doctor’s released the swimmer and had attended every practice my child was not allowed the chance to travel with the team. I will say that the scholarship was not taken away but, it wasn’t even about that..let my swimmer finish the career that was very well deserved! But nope..was kicked off the team "

"Coach Betsy Graham at UTPB is an absolute disaster. Her communication skills are non-existent, leaving athletes in the dark about expectations and feedback. Unprofessionalism oozes from her pores, consistently showing up late or unprepared, and displaying a lack of care for her team's well-being. Her organizational skills are laughable, with haphazard workouts and chaotic team events. It's clear she's only in it for personal gain, exploiting her position for selfish interests while neglecting her athletes' development. Her leadership is toxic, breeding a culture of apathy and disrespect. Steer clear of Coach Graham if you want to avoid a nightmarish swimming experience."

"Coach Betsy Graham at UTPB is a complete disappointment. She's a terrible communicator, never clearly explaining expectations or providing constructive feedback. Her unprofessionalism is appalling, often showing up late or unprepared to practice. The lack of organization is staggering, with poorly planned workouts and disorganized team events. It's clear she prioritizes her own personal gain over the team's success, leaving athletes feeling unsupported and unmotivated. Her leadership is non-existent, failing to inspire or bring out the best in her team. Avoid Coach Graham if you want a positive and productive swimming experience."

" Coach Betsy Graham at UTPB is hands down the worst coach I've ever had. She shows no interest in her athletes' individual needs, and her training methods are outdated and ineffective. She's more concerned with her own personal gain than with the success of her team. She's unapproachable and unhelpful, and her lack of enthusiasm is contagious. Under her coaching, I saw no improvement and actually regressed in my performance. Avoid Coach Graham at all costs if you want to actually improve your swimming skills."

"My daughter swam at UTPB under Coach Graham's guidance. Coach Graham was consistently respectful and fair, offering her options following an injury that sidelined her from a few meets. However, the UTPB physical trainers, unfortunately, made decisions regarding her ability to swim without adequate consideration. When my daughter discussed her future with Coach Graham, she received honest and fair guidance, even though it led to a reduction in her scholarship after the current semester, allowing her to pursue treatment and therapy. Coach Graham provides options and respects individual choices. Many who departed were unwilling to contribute to building the program Coach Graham sought to transform, preferring a more casual atmosphere prior to her arrival. Notably, those who committed to Coach Graham's program, both on the men's and women's teams, thrived. I believe Coach Graham will excel in her new program, and hopefully, she will be supported by a more dedicated group of athletes. Best of luck, Coach Graham."

"I’m very disappointed in my child’s collegiate swimming experience. When we talked with Betsy it seemed to be the perfect fit. We were absolutely wrong, after an injury in my kids first year with her she had a bandaid applied and up until this day my kid still has pain…that was three years ago. Thank god my kid will no longer endure this. If my child was unable to swim a certain race due to pain the coach simply placed my kid in another race. I also witnessed kids having injuries and being dismissed from the team. Said kid had better times than others and had a doctors release but as per Betsy.. was off the team. (Even when said kid still participated in every practice) I cant speak on scholarships because we never encountered a problem with that personally, but hearing different things I’m sure that’s the truth. I have plenty of relationships with parents on the team as well as swimmers. I know several parents and family members of swimmers donated quite a bit of money for travel cost etc. during a fund raiser. Where did that money go? Oh yeah, new towels for them team! I always thought we would be so sad to see the end of our child’s swim career, but honestly, we are so thankful it is over. "

"Coach Betsy teaches techniques and skills. My athlete worked with her and was able to correct stroke technique that club coach could not. Betsy was always available to help build confidence in my young swimmer and ended up swimming for her in college. She had a successful time in college. Could not ask for a better coach. "

"When Coach Betsy arrived at UTPB, she faced the daunting task of overhauling the team culture. As a sophomore at the time, I experienced firsthand the challenges we faced. The coach who recruited me was dismissed, and my freshman year was marred by a culture of drinking, partying, and drug use within the team. Enter Coach Graham, who brought a refreshing change to UTPB. She implemented structure, enforced rules, and successfully transformed the team culture. Coach Graham operated with an open-door policy, making herself available day and night to support her athletes. She only revoked scholarships when athletes failed to adhere to the rules. It's disheartening to read negative reviews from former teammates who fail to acknowledge the truth. Coach Graham empowered athletes with choices, allowing them to decide their path within the team. Those who chose to depart due to the new direction should reflect on their decisions before tarnishing Coach Graham's reputation, especially as she pursues new opportunities. Coach Graham worked tirelessly with limited resources to turn the team around. Instead of dwelling on past grievances, we should recognize her dedication and support her as she embarks on a new chapter in her coaching career. Good Luck Coach Graham, you have made a difference to the rest of us. #ForeverFalconPride"

"I had a disappointing experience with Coach Betsy. I felt that her teaching style didn't quite click with me, and I would have benefited from more personalized attention. Additionally, the practices sometimes lacked variety and engagement. I think Coach Betsy has the potential to improve with more attention to individual needs and innovative drills. I hope this feedback helps!"

"Betsy's coaching was a complete disaster! She showed no interest in individualizing instruction, and her lackluster techniques made practice a total snooze. Her apathy and lack of encouragement made me feel like I was just a nameless face in the pool. If you want a coach who actually cares about your progress and will push you to improve, avoid Betsy at all costs!"

"Under Betsy's coaching, my swimming experience was disappointing. Her lack of personalized attention and uninspiring techniques made practices dull and unhelpful. Unenthusiastic and unsupportive, she failed to push me to improve. Avoid Betsy if you want a coach who cares about your progress!"

"Coach Betsy is a wonderful coach. "

" Negative, unorganized, uncaring and extremely unprofessional. Kids talk and share. Scholarship stories posted are true. Nothing like finding out scholarship money wasn’t offered to the fastest men and women. Then having to try to fight for it once you find out seems backwards. If a swimmer left the team for any reason she would inappropriately celebrate their departure in front of the rest of the team. We got our own taste of the unprofessionalism when my child ended up like some others, with an injury, first year. Her lack of concern shined through when she clearly was only concerned once again about the scholarship money and if my child was going to continue swimming or not. Long story short, we said if money matters that much over my child’s health just take the money back. She could have cared less about my child’s injury which did eventually result in a surgery. "

"There are no good words to share about her. She picks favorites, only gives scholarships to those she likes, despite other swimmers performing better, and applauds when more swimmers quit the team because that’s less people she has to coach. Horrible team morale and an even worse coach"

"I would like say that I am glad she is leaving UTPB. She is honestly the worst coach I've have ever had in my 15 years of swimming. She favored the boys over the girls so it really does not make any sense as to why shes starting a women's team. When any girl would ask to watch their stroke for any correction she would say "she would watch" and once she would get to the wall Betsy helping out one of the boys. Then if you asked if she watched your stroke she would have said no I didnt see you until you reached the wall. Betsy also had a "system" where you get 3 strikes before you're kicked off the team and at least one "personal day" to miss a practice just to either catch up on school or just a self care day. To start off with "3 strike rule", she definitely had favorites on the team and no matter how much they get in trouble with drugs, alcohol or arrests they seem to still be on the team with no consequences or strikes given. Even if they missed multiple practices they still would have no strikes. However, if another swimmer that has never been in trouble but she doesn't favor wakes up late for a morning practice "ONE TIME" they automatically get a strike and get sent home. She has a very old school mentality of whatever she says goes. She doesn't listen to her athletes and even if she says something wrong she's "never wrong" She has no respect for people's personal issues that were told in private and then later would tell the whole team. She wouldn't say it like an announcement but she would put them on blast like they were a problem or a hinder to the team. I was injured my last year of swim and I know what MY BODY is capable of and I knew which events I could swim with out my injury flaring up. However if anyone was injured they would not be able to travel so many swimmers stopped coming to the Athletic Training Room to do rehab and ignored their injuries to be able to travel. She told me specifically that she doesn't believe in injuries and that it's just a lack of core and back and strength and that I need to see a chiropractor for my shoulder and not the Athletic Trainer. Last time I checked a chiropractor is for your back. Anyways, our athletic trainer wad assigned to different sports and swimming was on of them, at the time she was also was not a fan of Betsy. Betsy would try and tell what she thinks is best for the swimmers and that our athletic trainer doesn't know what she's doing. She also took people who were ineligible to travel meets and told people on the team that I was ineligible the whole season when I know I wasn't because if I was ineligible I would be fired from my job at the Success Center. I also knew I wasn't going to conference my last year of swim but I still wanted to finish my season regardless. She hinted at me to quit before a practice and said "You know you're not going to conference" and I replied with yes and she said back to me "so is it even worth you coming to practices anymore" and I told her "no but I want to finish my season so I'm coming to every mandatory practice until the season is over" I know she did this because she simply had no valid excuse to kick me off the team so she tried to get me to quit. I was even told by the new team captains at the time that she didn't even want to give me a senior recognition because she stated again that I was "ineligible all season" luckily one of them fought for me and said that I still swam 4 years even if I didn't compete my last season. I was told that she rolled her eye and the finally agreed to give me one. Once I finished swim I wanted to come to my first alumni meet the year after graduating and I did not feel welcomed she completely ignored me even when I politely acknowledged her. She never recognized me as an alumni but she did for everyone else that was in my class. I never wanted to go to any other swim meet or alumni meet after that and I swore I wouldn't go to another one until she was no longer a coach there. It's upsetting because I still had friends/former teammates that I wanted to see swim but due to her out most disrespect and unprofessionalism towards me, it has made me not even want to come to campus to visit friends for the sake of even trying to run into her. Also to mention that 14 people quit in ONE WEEK in her first year. In a total of the 3.5 years of her coaching at UTPB there have been well over 20 maybe even close to 30 swimmers that have quit, it's very unsettling knowing that many people have quit with in that timespan. Lastly I did want mention about how the Althetic Director had not done anything about the mutliple complaints that have been coming in about her since she got hired and Betsy would lie about having everything "handled" and that those issues being emailed were already "solved". However, its clear that they are budy budy and thats why he dimissed her behavior no matter how many complaints have be emailed. I would say more about her that I have heard from others however those are not my stories and complaints to share."

"This women stole every ounce of happiness this sport brings. She ruined not only my career but at least 10 others that i can speak for. She dropped so many of us from the team who had scholarships and even records due to injuries or missing one practice. She did this to free up scholarship money for recruits, one being her daughter who had no business continuing the sport after high school. She did not have a caring bone in her body if you were going through a hard time. I tried to go and speak with her on many occasions and was turned away. If you do not follow orders like a robot or volunteer to injure yourself further to complete a set, she will absolutely do everything in her power to take you off the team. Betsy has tarnished The UTPB Swim Program. I will never recommend Betsy to any of my swimmers. Do Better Betsy. And uhhhhhh Falcon Pride. "

"Honestly worst swim coach I’ve ever had in my 14 year career, and I’ve had a soccer coach fill in for a year in high school."

"She is very knowledgeable about swimming but is a horrible coach when it comes to dealing with the politics of swimmers and swimmers in general. When I signed to swim for utpb my coach was fired and so coach Betsy took over I met her the first day of practice. She said the only way I can get back my scholarship is if I place top 10 at conference, after having a rough season and got into some trouble which the entire team did as well, I placed top 10 at conference in individual events and made it into the 800 free relay. After the meet she did not give me back my scholarship even after he saying she would due to me haven’t a rough season. She has favorites, and she is super unprofessional, she brought her daughter into the team and gave her a scholarship even though she did not have the time to even be in a d2 swim team. Again she is a good coach when it coach to writing the programs for the season, I went from a 4:51 to a 4:45 due to her work out, but she lost almost my entire class of swimmers due to her unprofessionalism "

"He is the worst Coach ever does not communicate with players and only plays his players does not give others a chance"

"Coach? More like someone who was extraordinarily discouraging and unmotivating. Let me tell y'all it is a blessing IN PLAIN SIGHT that she is leaving this program. I was so disrespected as an athlete and genuinely felt that I did not belong. I never thought I was wanted on deck along with the 14+ others who quit in one week. YEP ONE WEEK. Honestly, it is so sad because nearly everyone who left could have scored points. Can I get a round of applause, ladies and gents, for the coach who created the worst swim program in UTPB history. With this all being said, anyone who swims under her would be so intelligent (I'M SUPER SARCASTIC BY THE WAY). Betsy took many scholarships away from swimmers who were either injured or ill; however, she allowed people who "safe harbored" on a drug test to keep theirs. BUT WAIT, THERE IS SO MUCH MORE: only half the people (2 of the 4) were punished simply because they were favorites. Okay, sorry for being so negative this whole time, Betsy is unique and her authentic, honest self. She is so sincere that she would show swimmers how much she cared for them by telling them they weren't good enough or could not achieve specific goals that they wanted to pursue. Anyway, let me wrap this up, shout out for ruining my life long swim career. #1 coach "

"Betsy was honestly the worst coach I have ever had. After meeting with her about my mental health several times, I still did not receive any support, resources, or care from her. She was always late to practice (if she showed up) and never cared to talk to any athletes before or after practice unless an athlete specifically asked to talk. Even then there was rarely any privacy options with little to no response to her. There were also several times where she breached confidentiality by telling the entire team things that other athletes had told her privately without their permission. The most positive meet I attended under her was one that she didn’t go to. Betsy definitely favored the men’s team over the women’s team so it’s very confusing to me that she’s allegedly is starting a women’s swimming program. There were several times when I asked Betsy for help with stroke work and she turned me down for all except one time. There were many people on the team that were forced to stop swimming, simply because Betsy didn’t like their personality. We even had one week where 14 people quit due to the blatant disrespect Betsy gave every athlete. If an athlete developed an injury, Betsy immediately blamed everything on the athlete, lost all interest in that athlete, and did not give them the space for recovery. Athletes forced to retire because of these injuries were used as negative examples for the other members of the team. I have not met one person who genuinely had a positive experience with Betsy, and I really hope others can find this site and share their experiences so no one has to deal with her again. "