Last Saturday was huge for the Tommie Swimming and Diving teams. We started the weekend with a very competitive meet with St. John’s and St. Ben’s, both were meets that we might have won with just a handful of close races going our way. We trained through this meet, with monster workouts Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and still had almost 100% season’s best performances. I was very proud of the way we competed, and very excited about how fast we are this early.
Then, after singing Christmas Carols on the bus on the way home (a 29 year-old tradition), the team came to my house for an evening of dinner (including Michele’s great shrimp and orzo salad), sandwiches, and tons of cookies (baked Wednesday night by the Cookie Monsters…yet another tradition). Then, more tradition. Each swimmer brought a gift for their Pep Pal, and everyone opened a gag gift. I’ve never heard so much laughter in my living room before. Finally, each Captain was presented with the traditional Swiss Army Knife for their keychain, and the kids presented the coaches with very nice and thoughtful gifts. I’m already assembling the pictures that will go in the digital frame they gave me.
Although this weekend signals the end of competition for fall semester, and our focus shifts a little toward exams, we’re also looking forward–with considerable optimism–to the training that builds toward a great conference meet. More than ever, it looks like we will compete with the best in the conference and return swimmers and divers to the D-III National Championships in Ohio in March. What a Christmas gift that will be.
