Conference Recap

​Good morning! I hope everyone got a good night’s sleep after yesterday’s meet. I have a few thoughts I’d like to share:

1) As a team we swam really well. We had a few regional cuts, lots of close races, and many, many swimmers place in the top three in their event or relay. As the meet wore on into the night, swimmers from all teams stopped dropping times, but our kids still fought hard, and many still swim life-time bests!

2) The meet itself was incredibly long, loud, and hectic. We are not used to not having a bull-pen at the conference meet, and, because of this, it was chaotic for swimmers, coaches, and officials. I have never seen as many false starts at a meet than what we saw last night. Thank you all for helping keep the kids out of the stands, staying quiet for the start, and cheering for them. 

3) Too many kids, particularly older, experienced kids, missed their events last night. Swimmers standing behind the blocks didn’t step up to their race. This was true for most teams last night; this was mostly an issue of the loudness of the pool deck.  However, I was really frustrated and let my frustration and anger get the better of me, especially as the meet wore on. I want to apologize to the swimmers and families for my anger and frustration. I certainly could have done a better job. 

4) We got tons of compliments from officials, coaches, and parents about our swimmers' sportsmanship. Most of our swimmers waited in the water to shake hands, and that always stands out against other teams.
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5) Overall, I am pleased with how our swimmers performed. We had a good season, and I am excited to celebrate on Friday!