Robin Elizabeth Toussaint: Her ‘Ripple’ Touched So Many
Robin Elizabeth Toussaint December 19, 1951 - January 6, 2024
Robin Elizabeth Toussaint (December 19, 1951- January 6, 2024) was that pebble. It seemed that Robin was in the water all her life! She started working for Hayward Area Recreation Department (HARD) as a lifeguard when she was sixteen years old and worked for and managed their aquatics programs for more than forty years. Every spring she hired and oversaw the training of 130 lifeguards for the 5 swim centers, touching the lives of 8000+ children and adults who learned to swim and enjoy the water each year. She was a tireless advocate for swim programs for all, locally and statewide. In 2002, Robin was inducted into the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame.
The daughter of Tom and Pat Kincaid, Robin grew up in Sacramento in a large active family, boasting 26 first cousins! She swam for the Arden Swim Club and Hall of Fame Coach Sherm Chavoor, alongside teammates Mark Spitz, Debby Meyer and Mike Burton. For a short time, Robin held the national record for 100-meter breaststroke. When her family moved to Hayward in 1966, Robin swam for the Flying Fins Swim Club. Swimming for Tennyson High School (class of ’70) and Chabot College, her swim team forfeited meets because she was so fast she was considered a ringer! Even later in life, her lap strokes were described by her colleagues as “a thing of beauty.” Upon retirement in 2010, Robin continued to serve on the HARD Foundation Board helping to raise money for scholarships for underserved children.
Robin’s “ripple” touched so many. Lifeguards referred to her as a “second mother” and thanked her for setting them upon “the right path.” More than ten years after retiring, when she would come back to the pool for lap swimming, it was hard for her to get her laps done because everyone wanted to visit with her. Her big personality, her booming pool- deck voice, and her positive attitude were a perfect match for the enormity of the Plunge!
Robin is survived by her high school sweetheart husband Dale Toussaint and children Rebecca Sermeno (Pedro) of Martinez; James (Lenae) of Collierville, Tennessee; Meghan Toussaint of Golden, Colorado; and her brother Thomas Kincaid (Anne) of Shelton, Washington. Robin was especially proud of her bevy of granddaughters: Mackenzie, Adeline, Aja, Mackiah, and Emma. She was happy that they could benefit from the Title IX provisions she had been denied.
Robin fought the battle of cancer for two and a half years with the same verve that she tackled life. As one of her lifeguards shared, “Robin was unforgettable, a great teacher and friend.” All are invited to Robin’s Celebration of Life, Sunday, January 21 at 1:00pm at the Cherryland Community Center (278 Hampton Road, Hayward). Donations can be made in Robin’s name to the HARD Foundation online: hardfoundation.networkforgood.com or mail: HARD 1099 E Street, Hayward, Ca. 94541. Flowers can be sent to the Community Center. For more information contact Steve Love 510-514-5722.
Drop a pebble in the water: just a splash, and it is gone;
But there’s half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on,
Spreading, spreading from the center, flowing on out to the sea.
And there is no way of telling where the end is going to be..
–James W. Foley