Orinda Aquatics

Junior Group Parent Meeting March 17, 2011

“Champions do not become champions when they win an event, but in the hours, weeks, months, and years they spend preparing. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character.” T. Alan Armstrong

Donnie & Matt

“Prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child.” Unknown Team Philosophy

Based on thirty plus years of;  Coaches personal swimming experience, coaching history in rec swimming, high school swimming, USA Swimming, Collegiate Swimming  Observation of youth personal and athletic development, social trends, etc.  History of OA  Access to USA Swimming Club Development and ASCA  A commitment to our kids’ personal growth, health, and happiness  A clear objective to have our swimmers continue to develop beyond OA  Learning life lessons through sports and maintaining an identity as an individual  Nurturing and maintaining a strong team character culture

Rec vs. Year-Round/ Short-term vs. long term

Rec Swimming - General Development  8 & under . Positive: social, speed, learn competition/racing . Negative: too often success oriented (not development oriented), stroke speed (not DPS)  9 & over . Positive: social - keeps kids in sport to varying degrees . Negative: social – many kids don’t acquire “training mentality”, technical development, endurance base/phase needed for HS/college . No event development, ie, 100’s, 200’s, 500  Social/near term success vs. long term development (technical/endurance/career)  The swimming world is year-round (that is the high school and college competition)  Multiple sports or activities vs. one main focus (pro’s and con’s)

The parent’s role with the child  What matters – attitude and effort, health and happiness, what to demand/emphasize (life lessons)  Early success vs. athletic development  Uphold principles  Support personally  Help to create communication path with swimmer and coach

The parent’s role with the coach (how to communicate)  Ask questions  Convey important information  Maintain a “team” filter The swimmers role with the coach (primary communicator)

Goals  Big Picture – life, skills  Team - culture  Individual – personal growth  Athletic – Attendance, focus, training maturity  Swimmer – mastering workout objectives  Times – the last and only “goal” that is not within your control

Training (see article)  Attendance/resistance to  Dry land  General development: o All strokes (IMX) o Fitness o Technique/blanace  Groups/”moving up” (see note)

Technique (habits/responsibility)  “Why didn’t you fix that?”  Fundamental development  Distance per stroke  Turns/streamlining  Specific focus/accountability  Kids hurrying and not focussing

Competition  Big picture (what do times mean?)  Growth/development (no bad race – parents need to support)  Meets o How often/why? o Distance meets o More meets for non-JO swimmers  Expectations?  Events  Junior vs. Senior  Plateaus

Water Polo  What is best? Development/Progression 1. Love of swimming/desire to swim (attendance) 2. Love of training/desire to train (work ethic) 3. Focus on technique (focus, efficiency) 4. Embrace team philosophy as swimmers mature (character/team, sacrifice) 5. Understand big picture (process, challenge) 6. Prepare for high school swimming (high school development)  Participation, commitment, reality, social pressure  What we generally see 7. Prepare for college swimming (collegiate experience/assistance)  Mindset/preparation  Become a student-athlete  Division 1 to Division 3 - a program for everyone  Collegiate development  Collegiate leadership (Chris Peterson, Zach Disbrow, etc)

Athletics and life choices  General discipline  Academics  Social pressure  Ego, insecurity, self-centered perspective

Inclusions  USA Swimming Notes  Genadijus Article - Too Much Too Fast  Peaks and Valleys  OA college performances  Lauren Beaudreau  Eric Tang  Brooke Woodward  THEME articles; That’s Not It, The Butterfly, The Apple

Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or we grow weak, and at last some crisis shows us what we have become. Brooke Foss Westcott, British theology professor and bishop (1825-1901)

There is too much emphasis on success and failure, and too little on how a person grows as he works his way toward his goal. To me, it was the path getting there that counted, not the number of medals I won. My advice to young people is to relax, enjoy the journey, enjoy every moment, and quit worrying about winning and losing. Matt Biondi: Five time Olympic Gold Medalist From USA Swimming

My daughter can beat girls in the senior training group, but her coach won't move her up. Why not?

A: While your child may have the physical skills or times to move to the next group, move criteria may also be based on emotional, social and cognitive skills. Additionally, having performance times does not necessarily equate to being able to train in that group. Progression from group to group is set by the coaching staff to ensure long-term development. This allows proper training to be introduced at the appropriate level for each individual child. Obviously your coach believes it is in the best interest of your daughter to remain in that group. Certainly ask your coach for his views and evaluation of your child, but respectfully embrace his/her opinion.

There are three phases of talent development:

 Phase 1 : Introduction/Foundation o Approximate years in phase = 5 o Age of athlete: 4.5-9.6 years  Phase 2: Refinement/Transitional o Approximate years in phase = 4 o Age of athlete: 10.6-14.6  Phase 3: Elite Performance o Approximate years in phase = NA o Age of athlete: 15.4 + Our focus will be on the final 2 phases and how it pertains to you as an athlete.

In the Refinement/Transitional Phase it’s important that you are still enjoying the sport. What are the things about swimming you love? Why do you come to practice every day? Being able to answer those questions and continually remind yourself of why you enjoy the sport will help keep you motivated as you progress through.

Don’t be afraid to want to win and strive for those goals, BUT what’s even more important than that is to give your best, consistent effort in practice and in competition. This is the phase where you start to understand the process of performing; just showing up to practice isn’t enough, but being focused, working hard, eating right and enough sleep are also major factors.

Having other activities outside of the pool is important so don’t forget to also keep your focus on school work, home responsibilities or possibly other sports you are good at. As you mature through this phase, take initiative to be more involved in decision making and your training.

In the final phase, remember who you are as a person and that you’re not just an athlete/swimmer. This is the phase where you are the main motivator and have control of your own destiny. Your equipment, knowing when meets are and the events you’re swimming, and being where you’re supposed to be is primarily your responsibility.

Remember that sports are a game of highs and lows and to work to stay emotionally even. What’s important to remember that many of the same themes will resurface from phase to phase. Be consistent, know your role as the athlete and continue to work on life skills and good sportsmanship throughout all phases.

Too Fast, Too Young, Dr. Genadijus Sokolovas Dr. Genadijus Sokolovas, USA Swimming’s director of physiology, talks of missed windows of opportunity. He sees peak performances as a 10- to 12-year-old as a work in progress, beginning with preliminary preparation for those under the age of 10 and advancing through basic training (10-12), specialization (13- 18), depending on gender and event), and peak performance somewhere around ages 18 to 20 (later for sprinters). Patience is the key, according to Sokolovas. Rushing through any one of the stages – or skipping one altogether – might push swimmers ahead of their peers for a time, but it won’t lead to the ultimate goal of peak performances at full physical maturation. The stages Sokolovas speaks of begin with the development of fundamental skills, flexibility and general endurance, and progress gradually to higher volumes of training with increased intensity. The concept is for swimmers to hold off on the tougher workouts until they are best equipped to handle them, thereby inducing the highest training value and the most overall improvement. Very often, Sokolovas says, young swimmers who are ahead of their peer groups are pushed forward in the developmental cycle, with intensive, high-yardage training introduced too early. By the time they are most able physically to handle to the higher levels of training stress, they are on the downside of their adaptation cycle. “If they are fast when they are young with a minimum of workload, that’s one thing,” says Sokolovas, “but if it’s because they are 10 and doing 7,000 yards a day, that’s something else. In that case, it’s not good to be too fast too young.” In a study he authored, Sokolovas compared the swimmers in the best all-time, top-100 times for age groups from 10-and-under through 17-18. Among the 17- and 18-year olds, only 10.3 percent of the girls and 13.2 percent of the boys were listed in any event as 10-and-unders. When compared to the lists of 11 and 12-year-olds, the percentages were 20.3 for the girls and 12.6 for the boys. Not until the 15/16 age group did the percentages become significant – 49.7 for the girls and 53.5 for the boys. As Sokolovas concluded, “Most of the future elite swimmers swim slower than age-group champions, especially at ages until 15-16 years.” “So many want to be successful right now,” Sokolovas says. “They don’t want to wait. They don’t understand that if their bodies have already adapted at age 12 to a high volume of training and intensity, there is little room for them to go. How can they improve?” Few within the swimming community question Sokolovas’ contention that too much too early can lead to too little later on. Susan (O’Brien) Williams swam at the 1980 Olympic Trials as a 14-year-old and did a 1:05 in the 100-meter backstroke. At the Olympic Trials eight years later she did a 1:03. Within that period, she endured three years without improving her time at all. “I did too much when I was young,” she concedes. “From the time I was 12 until I was 14, I was doing nine practices a week. When I was 13, I did three practices a day over the Christmas holidays. Where could I go from there? It was not as if I could go from five practices a week to six or seven. I couldn’t do any more.” “So what if you are great when you are swimming against other 10-year-olds?” she adds. “Who has the talent and desire has yet to be determined. It’s better to pace yourself. You want to be great later on.” PEAKS AND VALLEYS Properly timing a swimmer’s training development can be tricky. The rules apply generally, but when it comes to specifics, former world record holder and club coach Sue Anderson found herself repeatedly asking, “Am I doing the right thing for this kid?” Anderson, the resource development specialist for USA Swimming, recalls two 12-year-old girls she coached at the Scarlet Aquatic Club in New Jersey during the 1990s. Both surpassed Junior National standards when they were 12. Anderson held one back from the senior group and didn’t send her to Junior Nationals the first year she qualified. Anderson pushed the other girl right along, both with training and competition. Neither developed fully as a senior swimmer. “It’s not a science,” Anderson says. “The only science to it is that you can’t count your chickens when the swimmers are 10 and beating everyone else. It could be because they trained too much. It could be because they were physically more mature and after a few years, others in their age group will catch up. Or it could be because they have real talent for swimming and will continue to develop. You just never know.” Raedeke agrees. Improvement is never a given, not in swimming or any other sport. Slumps are part of athletics. Their causes can be as hard to pin down as next month’s weather. Problems arise when mechanics or training routines are scrutinized too closely. Very often, neither is the major problem. Nevertheless, athletes, coaches and parents demand answers when all that is needed is patience. “As you get further into a sport,” Raedeke says, “improvements are harder and harder to come by. We all know this, but when you are the one affected, you want to change things even though the best course of action might be to wait it out.” Pat Hogan knows a thing or two about waiting it out. In 1996, a swimmer he coached at the Mecklenburg Aquatic Club in North Carolina, Jilen Siroky, made the U.S. Olympic team in the 200m breaststroke as a 14-year-old. Though she continued to swim through college, she never got within three seconds of the time she did in the final of 1996 Olympic Trials. This is not uncommon for girls whose bodies change dramatically in their early teens. Siroky’s started to change immediately after the Olympics. “She wasn’t the same swimmer,” recalls Hogan, USA Swimming’s managing director for club development. A change in stroke technique didn’t work, though emphasis on other strokes helped, allowing Siroky to experience once again the joy of improvement. However, she never achieved the level of accomplishment that she did in 1996. And yet, as Hogan says, “I was as proud of her the years after the Olympics as I was when she made the Olympics. As hard as she worked going into 1996, it was no different in ’97 and ’98. She struggled, but that’s one of the great things about our sport. When you are not improving, you begin to question, ‘Why am I doing this?’ You learn to struggle, and that’s good for kids. They learn a lot. You can’t enjoy the peaks unless you go through the valleys.” Examples of Swimmer Development This Year Ward breaks 20-year-old UCSB swim record LONG BEACH – Freshmen Andrea Ward set a school record in the 500 freestyle on Thursday at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Swimming and Diving Championships, which are being held at Belmont Plaza. Andrea Ward opened Thursday’s finals by winning the first individual event of the meet – the 500 freestyle – and posted a new UCSB record in the process. Her time of 4:48.60 is a NCAA ‘B’ qualifying time and breaks a 20-year old school record set by Michele Hlinka in 1991 at 4:49.35. LONG BEACH, Calif. – Cal Poly broke two school records en route to second- and fourth-place finishes in a pair of relay events which opened the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships on Wednesday night at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool. The Mustang 800 freestyle relay foursome of Gloria Benefield, Andrea Voigt, Jill Jones and Kylie France completed the event in 7 minutes, 21.24 seconds, placing second, surpassing the NCAA B Standard and lowering the school record by nearly five seconds. Rachel Cleak was a double finalist swimming a 50.6 in the 100 Free and 55.8 in the 100 Fly. Chris Peterson Breaks Jason Lezak Record LONG BEACH, Calif. - Junior Chris Peterson broke Jason Lezak's school record in the 50 freestyle to highlight action on day two of the Pac-10 Swimming Championships, which are being held through Saturday at Long Beach's Belmont Plaza. Peterson posted a time of 19.49 seconds in the event's prelims, snapping Lezak's record by .18 seconds. Hey Donnie- I just wanted to send you my greetings and tell you the results from my conference championships, which was the past weekend. I swam the 500 free, 200 free as part of an 800 free relay, the mile and the 200 back. The women's team narrowly won first, even though we were slated to get second place by over one-hundred points. In my 200free, I split a 2:11.57 in the relay, which is about 2 seconds faster than I have ever gone. In my 200 back I went a 2:25.5, which was a personal best by a lot and my coach is excited to have me train more for that event next year. I focused mostly on the mile this season, which definitely paid off as I dropped 31 seconds to go a 19:52.47. I just wanted to share the success of my season with you and of course thank you for all of your training that led me to where I am today. I am really glad that I was able to be part of such a great team during my time at Orinda, and in my current program I see many of the qualities that are present in OA. Please tell the team that I say hello and I look forward to seeing you over spring break! Delia Brooke Woodward has breakout meet at Miami Invite To round out the individual performances, freshman Brooke Woodward finished third in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:05.26, good for an ‘A’ cut and the sixth-fastest performance in school history. Brooke also went 4:28 in the 400 IM and 2:10 in the 200 Fly (first time swimming). Tommy Dowley – 1:38 in the 200 Free at the Cal-Stanford dual meet (in the wind and rain) Jenny Hu – 1:06 in the 100 Breast, a lifetime best Zach Disbrow – only two-time Team Captain – best meet of his life was his last (qualifying for the Olympic Trials Letter from Lauren Beaudreau: Dear Ronnie, Donnie, and Matt,

I just wanted to give you an update on my swimming since I last saw you over Christmas break. After I left California on New Year’s Eve I headed to Siesta Key, Florida with Richmond for our training trip, which is known to be a notoriously grueling 11 day session of training at the peak of our season's training. This year was really different, however, as I felt refreshed from swimming with you all at home and had a better perspective on why I was there and what I wanted to accomplish in the last two months of my swimming career. The Florida training trip was a huge success for the whole team both in the pool and in our beach condos, bonding and becoming closer than ever. At the training trip I stepped outside of my comfort zone and used the skills that I learned from you all in my years training with both Polar Bears (OA Fall Swimming) and OA. I was a true leader in the pool and out, gave each practice my all, and for the first time in about a year and a half I was really happy with my swimming. After the Training trip we traveled back to Richmond and competed in three very exciting meets against Rutgers, Florida, and UNC in the College Swimming Conference Carnival, Maryland and James Madison in my final home meet. I was right on best times in most of my events (unshaven and un-tapered) and went a best time in my 400 IM at Rutgers. It was really exciting and gratifying to see that I could go fast again, but the most rewarding part of those three meets was the success that the team had as a whole.

Last week we competed in the A10 Conference Championships in Buffalo, NY. Although the weather wasn't great, the meet was probably one of the best experiences of my life. I wish you all could have been there to experience it, but in a lot of ways I feel like you were, and thought of you all and OA often throughout the meet. My goals for this meet were to leave my swimming career more than satisfied, and to leave it all in the pool in every race. All of my hopes and dreams for the meet were fulfilled and then some, I couldn't have asked for anything more.

My preparation for my last swim (the 200 Breast on Saturday night), which is possibly the most memorable one of my career included a flashback through the learning experience that I have gone through over the last 16 years or so to get to where I am today . It was heavily inclusive of Springbrook, Polar Bears and OA memories along with all those of college. Everything from my first County swim meet to traveling to Reno and the 'learning experience' conversation I had with 'Lonnie' and all the 'little people' to all the success we had as a team in high school, both OA and Campo at meets like Federal Way, North Coast and Junior Nationals/ Nationals. With my journey in mind and heavily in 'the zone', I swam my last individual event with all my heart. When I began to feel the fatigue at 175 yards I thought of all the hard work that I have put in over the last 15 years and of all my 'learning experiences' and knew that I could do it! I touched the wall in first and saw a lifetime best of 2:11.34. I looked at my proud parents in the stands, my coach Matt and all of my teammates on the side of the pool deck cheering for me and thought of all of you; all of the 'little people' and the 'learning experiences' in my journey that led me to this wonderful moment. It was one of the best and most satisfying experiences of my life, and without you all, and all your support and belief in me it never would have been possible.

At Conference, I not only swam my best times in every event, but broke a school record in every individual and relay event (with the exception of the 100 breast), but we won another Championship, our eighth consecutive title, by a large margin. We were excellent as a team. It was so rewarding and a storybook ending to my career, which might actually not be the end. I'm hoping that my time in the 200 breast will be fast enough to qualify for NCAA's this year, and in the mean time I am crossing my fingers, holding my breath and continuing my training. I'll keep you updated on what happens. Thank you so much for every experience and lesson you all have helped me learn; I cannot express how much I appreciate you all being a part of the journey. Love, Lauren Beaudreau Eric Tang – letter to team last year

Hey Ron and Don,

I just wanted to check in with you guys about my last season at Columbia University. On May 16, I’ll be graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering with a pre-medical concentration, which I’m told are the most difficult major and concentration respectively. Over the past four years I’ve accumulated 155 credits, 25 more than I need to graduate. I’ve also seen grown men and women breakdown and cry during exams. In four years excluding the two weeks I was near dead with mono, I had a 100% practice attendance, so if you guys have any kids who complain how difficult their schoolwork is, just tell them it is possible.

Anyway, during an interview a couple weeks ago, I was asked: “Swimming is often thought as an individual sport. How is it in any way a team sport?”

Swimming, contrary to common belief, is anything but an individual sport. In fact, I would like to be bold enough to say that swimming is far more of team sport than those like basketball, soccer, or football. In these sports, you’re forced to play with other people. It’s part of the rules, part of the game. Swimming is different. In swimming, you are given a choice. On one hand, you can be that individual that trains and competes just for personal goals only, the person who is more concerned of what he or she wants rather than what the team needs. On the other hand, you can be that athlete who acts in the best interest of his or her teammates, the person who is willing to sacrifice anything to help bring the team closer to its goal.

You don’t wake up at 5:00 AM six times a week because you simply enjoy swimming. You don’t put yourself through 20+ hours of training and punishing work on a weekly basis just because you personally want to be a better athlete. You do it for the thirty or forty other members on the team who also do it, not because they wanted to be an Olympian or a NCAA champion, but because they too wanted the team to excel and be their best.

Every time I strapped on my goggles and stepped onto the blocks to race, everything was always as clear as day, everything made perfect sense. Each race, I was prepared to swim my heart out, every single yard, every single second. No matter how tired I felt, how hurt I was, I was ready to rip myself to pieces before letting another swimmer from an opposing team defeat me. If I gave anything less, I would be disrespecting my coach, my teammates, and this school. This was my responsibility to my team and I knew the other guys on the team shared that same weight and commitment. This is one thing I’ll miss about swimming: everyone on the team committed to each other and our common goal.

This especially applies to a team like ours, in which most of us will never be a part of the sport’s elite. However, characterized by our twelve meet season, our relatively small physical size, and our refusal to rest or shave for anything besides Ivies, Columbia's Men's Swim and Dive Team has established itself over the years as not only the scrappiest and least talented, but also the toughest. Standing at 5’7’’, I can confidently say I am the scrappiest, the least-talented, and the craziest of them all.

Four practices into my final season I was diagnosed with mononucleosis, which was quite the pain. When the more severe symptoms died down after a couple weeks, I went against medical advice and decided go back training full-time because I knew that, even at my current state, I could still put up some points in dual meets. This marked the beginning of the three most painful months of my life. The first six dual meets were not pretty. After each race, my muscles would cramp up, I would get light-headed, and my vision would go blurry. It wasn’t a good feeling. I swam horrendously, going 59s in the 100 br, 2:10s-2:14s in the 200, getting my ass kicked by guys I was supposed to be beating.

The first half of the season had taken a toll on my body, but my poor performances only made me more fired up. It made me hungry. There were six more meets left in the season, and I wanted to prove to myself, to my teammates, and the whole league that I still had some fight left in me. I got a little rest over winter break and soon what appeared to be the worst season of my life rapidly transformed into the best. As a second semester senior, I literally swam like there was no tomorrow. In the last five dual meets, I put up times that I never knew I was capable doing unrested/unshaven going 58.1, 57.8, 57.6, 57.6, 57.0 in the 100s and 2:07s, 2:06, and 2:05s in the 200s.

At the Ivy League Championships in March, it appeared that our team was the only team that was not significantly affected by the suit ban. Racing at Denunzio Pool at Princeton as usual was quite the experience. Every single row of the complex was packed with parents and students. During each final swim, it got so loud, I could feel the blocks shake. As a team, we swam out of our minds. Our team, the same team that was projected to get 6th or 7th, roared back from a 150 point deficit to sneak past a much more talented Penn team for a 3rd place. No one in the league was expecting such a finish - no one except us. Princeton and Harvard were in a league of their own, so a 3rd place finish was quite the honor . I attribute most of our success not to a good taper, but to our support for each other. I had never felt so proud as a member of this team than when I was standing on the podium among my teammates with that small trophy.

Individually, I swam well, going 56.09 in the 100, 2:02.2 in the 200, and 1:54.0 in the 200 IM. These were a little bit faster than my times last year, but most of the people were adding anywhere between 2-5 seconds in each event. I finaled for the first time, getting 6th and 7th in the 100 and 200 respectively. I also swam the breast leg on the 200 and 400 medley relays for the first time since I was 12 years old. Our relay placed 2nd in both events, garnering 2nd-Team All-Ivy Honors and getting NCAA B cuts. It was a great way to end my fifteen year swimming career. I was later selected to the 2010 Academic All-Ivy Team for winter sports.

Anyway, I’ll be back in the bay post-graduation. Starting August, I will be working for Dr. Jeff Fineman for a year at UCSF Medical School doing some research in pulmonary hypertension. I plan on going to medical school in Fall 2011.

I wish you the best.

-Eric “E-Tang” Tang

PS: I ran some rough calculations concerning the mileage I’ve put on my body over my lifetime. In 21 years, I have approximately swum 15.3 million yards, which comes out to be 8,600 miles. To put that in perspective, the distance between San Francisco and New York City is about 3000 miles. I have also spent 7,300 hours training, which is equivalent to 304 days.

Do I ever wish I could have those days back? The answer is No.

“Character is the result of two things: mental attitude and the way we spend our time.” E. Hubbard To the past, present, and future Orinda Aquatics swimmers and families, You are so lucky to cross paths with Orinda Aquatics. No quote, story, or video could ever fully explain the feeling and deep connection that this team provides its swimmers. Through commitment to this team we learn pride and purpose, sacrifice and discipline, and love and passion. It is extremely hard to write this letter because I am not ready to leave the team that has been my backbone through the past six years. Reflecting on my Orinda Aquatics swimming career, I will never remember my times, the grueling sets, or any important meets. Instead, I will always cherish the lifelong relationships that I built over my years on the team and how they have changed me. In life, we gradually shape our identities through our reactions to the people and environments that surround us, so we truly become that to which we are most exposed. For this reason, every Orinda Aquatics swimmer is incredibly lucky to be influenced by the team’s philosophy, have access to the coaches’ wisdom, and have the constant support of extraordinary teammates. Orinda Aquatics is not a regular team. The pool environment is a haven where passion, dedication, unity, and character thrive. Our team truly lives its mission statement. Some outsiders may call it cultish, but it is hard not to be extremely close with those with whom you share morals, goals, and a lifestyle. In a community where drug and alcohol use increasingly threaten teenagers, Orinda Aquatics is a sanctuary that encourages us to pursue athletics, academics, and personal growth at the highest level. When the academic, athletic, and social pressures of high school hit, I found myself splitting my time between studying and training at the pool. Where schoolwork often seemed tedious, swimming became the exact opposite. This team has taught me how to live a life of value and leadership, but as much as I have grown from my years on Orinda Aquatics, it may be an even greater privilege to watch how the team has changed the life of many individual team members. Ronnie and Donnie: you are blessings to our team, our families, and our community. No amount of description could truly do you justice. You are the cornerstone of the true purpose of athletics. Thank you for passionately showing us life’s most important lessons and changing our lives selflessly and humbly. Thank you for teaching us humility, integrity, compassion, respect, honesty, work ethic, and commitment. Although you convey your wisdom through talks, quotes, stories and videos, we learn the most from watching how you live your daily lives. I could not have asked for better mentors, role models, and coaches, and I know my friendships with you will last forever. As my last summer weeks pass by, it’s hard not to wish for a few more days, weeks, or even years to spend with the team. My largest fear as I head off to college is that I will not find a group of people who matches my Orinda Aquatics family. However, I know that the relationships formed on this team are ones which will last a lifetime and my class graduating means another fresh group of swimmers who are lucky enough to spend their high school swimming career with Orinda Aquatics. To the teams past swimmers: thank you for being the framework for an incredible program and setting the standard for the years to come. To the team’s present swimmers: enjoy the time you have left on Orinda Aquatics, soak up the lessons there are to learn, love everything for what it is and how it can help you as a person, and remember that your swimming career is not defined by your time on the scoreboard. To the team’s future swimmers: I envy that you are just beginning your Orinda Aquatics journey and I wish you the best, continue to set the standard for the years to come. Thank you Orinda Aquatics. From the bottom of my heart, my daily life will not be the same without you, but your message will always guide me. I will miss you. Love, Brooke Woodward