Where to begin?
Welcome to the Swim Team's Blog (at least, the coach's blog). It's hard to know exactly where to begin...we've had such a fantastic start to the season. We have 56 swimmers and divers on the roster, more than we've ever had on either the men's or women's team.
You can feel the energy in practice. Kids are working hard, but even more important, they're working hard together. From the deck, I see kids working side by side, dragging each other to fast repeats in sets, with lots of encouragement and even more smiles. The social kicking is really social, and that's just fine.
Our team's activities have been great, too. The fall Welcoming Party had a great skit (one of the best), with the new kids lampooning the returning kids (and Pat Hangge doing a great impersonation of the old coach, right down to the shaggy grey eyebrows). That party and skit is a 29-year old tradition that is still going strong.
The team also went on a pre-season camping trip, the Seniors and Captains hosted all the new kids at a pasta feast at Buca di Beppo Italian restaurant, and the team came out to our house for our annual Bonfire Bash, complete with chili and cornbread...the bonfire got rained out, but no one went home hungry. Another tradition is our swim-a-thon, this year as a part of the Ted Mullin Hour of Power. We raised $605.00 for research at the University of Chicago.
All told, it's been a great start to what promises to be fantastic year. Stay tuned to this blog, to learn more.