By Lillian Nelson, Swimming World College Intern
Well ladies and gents, this is it. My dearest college seniors, now is the time for the final push.
The last term of school (for some).
The last time you’ll wake up and dive into a pool with your best friends every morning.
The last time you’ll have to do that grind of a set while coach yells at you until he’s blue in the face.
The last time you’ll accidentally doze off in class after a tough morning practice.
The last time you’ll swim in a meet at your home pool, lucky enough to have the honor of representing your respective university in front of all your family and friends.
The last countdown until your conference championship meet, or beyond.
Photo Courtesy: Duquesne Swimming
Though there many “lasts” that lie ahead within the next few months, this is not a time to be sad. This is a time to walk around campus wearing your team gear with a little extra sense of pride. This is a time to reflect on your lifetime career in swimming and be nothing but proud of all that you have accomplished. This is a time to realize the impact that swimming has had on you, and the impact you have had on swimming. This is a time to push yourself and your teammates to reach new heights. This is your time to go out with a bang.
College is hard. Swimming in college is even harder, and each collegiate swimmer experiences their four years in their own individual way. Maybe you came into your school’s program in a rebuilding time and got to be a part of the revolutionary change for the better, or maybe you came into a program that was already strong and it pushed you to reinvent yourself as an athlete.
Regardless of where your experience falls on the scale, move forward into these next few months with your head held high. Honor where you are at, and continue to challenge yourself to reach where you want to be. Don’t let yourself check out because you only have a handful of months left identifying as a swimmer. Instead, cherish your final weeks. Make every single stroke count. Remember that the rest of your team is still in their first, second, or third year, and though you may not take notice of it, we do still look up to you. You’re our seniors.
Photo Courtesy: Morgan Smith
You’ve helped guide us in the right direction when we get a little lost. You inspire us to get better every time we step on the pool deck or into the weight room. When situations demand it, your maturity and self discipline are beyond your years. You teach us way more than you realize on any given day. For all of these things and more, we thank you.
Somehow each graduating class seems to be harder to say goodbye to than the last, but we’re not ready to say goodbye quite yet. You will always remain close to our hearts, as every single one of you has helped to shape our team into what it is today. Without a doubt, you owe it to yourselves to make this last chapter the most memorable.
Wake up every morning and be excited. Be excited for yourself. Be excited for your team. Be excited for what you have accomplished, and what you intend to accomplish.
Not only that, but also know that we are proud of you, we support you, and we are chomping at the bit to see what you amazing things you will achieve, both at the end of our season, and beyond our program. A team is a family, and you will always remain a part of our family. You are not swammers yet, so let this final push turn the “what ifs” into the “I dids” and live your legacy.
Katie!! <3
<3 </3
Meaghan Kwarcinski
Brandon Nori
So true. True for high school seniors too.
Shannon Mary Natalie Zoldork Allison Paquette