Why you ask, I ask, why not?

By Coach Mike

What a great roller coaster ride this season has been! It was full of many things, such as; hard work, learning, emotions, failure, successes and as always lots of FUN. No matter what, we are learning to have fun and find the positives in everything we do. Why, you ask? The other day I was having a conversation with a friend and as most conversations start out we greeted each other. She asked, “How are you?” I responded with a resounding “WONDERFUL”. She asked “why are you so wonderful.” I said, because “I choose too to be.” The why, is simply a choice. Why wake up in the morning and choose to be miserable and have a horrible day. That doesn’t sound very appealing does it? Believe it or not this is what a vast majority of people do. They only look for the negatives, measuring the temperature around them and then going along with it. I decide everyday to wake up and challenge myself to find the positives. Every moment is a chance for me to practice something and improve, I choose to set the temperature and be a thermostat. Why you ask, I ask, why not?

We as a team are learning to challenge the status quo around us and become thermostats in our environments. At our championship meets we love to cheer and show our team pride. We as a team have many high standards that are not shared amongst other teams in the area. One thing is that we swim finals and we do not scratch out. We as a team plan on making finals so we can represent our team. Another, is that we swim relays, so we can represent our team at these competitions at the fullest extent we are capable. Speaking of relays, one of our BLUE WAVERS asked me at Long Course Senior Champ finals “Why are we swimming this relay?” We were the only girls relay and we ended up racing a boy’s relay from another team. This question sparked the answer to why we set such high standards and do more than just swim for a time here at BLUE WAVE. Why do we have a suit policy which restricts the use of those tech suits; why do we swim relays; why do we take advantage of swimming in finals every chance we get; why is character first? Why…the real reason is because we challenge the status quo and want to set an example in Potomac Valley Swimming of what a great team is! A great team is a team that works hard to have the opportunity to swim at meets such as this. We love to have fun competing with each other and to set a higher standard within PVS and USA Swimming. We challenge what it means to be a USA Swimming team. We are a team of values and passion and everything we do extenuates that.

At this summer’s championships we did well as a team amongst the other teams in PVS, placing first at Senior Champs and first at 14 and Under Championships both in the medium team division. This however is not what we consider winning. If we only viewed winning as claiming a title or finishing in the top 16 to make it back to finals, or getting a time then winning becomes uncontrollable. The great coach John Wooden never spoke about winning to his athletes and he became one of the most winningest coaches in college basketball. He coached the controllables and expected excellence out of his players at every practice and game. They learned that every practice and competition was an opportunity to improve and learn. He valued character and valued traits such as perseverance, hard work and dedication amongst other traits that all great leaders have. So, how do we define winning? Winning is showing up to practice each day ready to give our best for the team (family); winning is balancing school, social and swimming and being successful at each (dedication); winning is never backing down from a challenge (mental toughness); winning is qualifying for one of our big meets to represent your team due to winning at each of the above. We believe that these are things that will not only help you winning here but win at life.

Why do you do what you do? How do you win each day? These are all in our control and are based on the choices we make.

BLUE WAVE ON 3…BLUE WAVE ON 3…1...2…3

GO BLUE WAVE!

FAMILY – DEDICATION – MENTAL TOUGHNESS