Seals and Parents,

Our season is officially over as of Sunday night at Ponderosa when the final awards were announced.  We were in the “large team” division at both meets placing 3rd at Trinity and 5th by only 40 pts. at Ponderosa.  This is a huge accomplishment given the fact five and six years ago, the Seals lost every single dual meet and were last place at Divisionals two years in a row.  Those days are long gone and we have the best swim family anyone could ask for with a few kids swimming fast in the background ;)

As mentioned at the team party (and probably in a previous email), we went from C3 last season up two divisions to C1 and held our own.  We had a fantastic set of coaches and new members on our board stepping up and taking on some big challenges.  Expect to see some new faces and seeing computer training positions open up in the future.  Nikki has done a phenomenal job with the computer position in a fast-paced ten short weeks, and she will be looking for a couple more victims to join her in the computer room with Scott and our other computer dads.

At the team party, it’s not really the best place to give a long sentimental speech on how much being a part of this team means to me and the rest of the coaches because we are outside and we have a couple hundred kids itching for a trophy directly in front of you…so an email seemed like the next best option…

Racing in general is such an exciting sport.  Everything you’ve worked on since your last race has to be executed perfectly in order to drop time.  We had kiddos throughout the season show disgust or upset they didn’t drop time and they added when they DID work hard and they were deserving of this.  My answer for those kids?  Do you think one day you’ll be at zero seconds if you keep dropping time?  That’s impossible!  Find out what you did wrong, work on it, and swim a better race next time!  It was all of our coaches’ goals to not only coach our kids to be faster swimmers, but to be a better person every day.  Shaking hands after racing, waiting in the water until the last person in your heat was finished and cheering on the other relays. 

From a coaches perspective, it was incredible to see a 12 year-old girl stick around and cheer on her team after being told her relay at 2 o’clock in the afternoon had been scratched because someone left and we couldn’t find an alternate.  Maybe that’s great parenting too, but we can at least be proud that we have kids on our team with that much spirit and such positive attitudes.  As a parent, initially I would be stomping back to the tent, packing things up, throwing things in the car, cursing out the kid that left, cursing out the coaches that couldn’t figure it out, saying “no more shaved ice, we’re going home!”, all of the above!  Seeing how some of you handle these things with such a great attitude has taught me lessons on how I want to be when ole Blaise Galownia is a Seal.  My wife is determined to find another sport besides swimming for our kids because of the hours spent waiting, and the minutes spent in the pool.  I think she will change her mind when she sees her son in the pool, working so hard to swim across and race other kids, so happy when he gets out and gets a ribbon! 

(you think if we had a year-round team it would be nearly impossible for her to escape our kids swimming?)

Being able to see our kids improve on their races, not DQ in breastroke after being DQ’d weekly, or compete on a relay is priceless.  It’s such a joy to us all to watch our kids be happy, race, compete on relays, do a cannon-ball in to the pool, cheer on the older kids they may not even know, etc..  I think that’s why we come back for more the next summer regardless how hot it will be every Saturday. 

We had a great and memorable season and cannot wait for the next one already!

Expect a couple more emails on how to pick up awards and ribbons you may have left in the box or may have not picked up at Trinity or PI, and also for our end of the season survey.  We want to know what you think and where we can improve.  While doing this survey, remember, our team is run by parent volunteers and only the coaches are paid.  Be honest, but make sure you’ve thought things through while being critical, we aren’t sensitive ;)

It was great seeing you again or meeting you this season, and hope to see you all next season!

GO SEALS GO!

Brandon Galownia