Dear Captains,
Thank you for a season of guidance, leadership, and endless support. Thank you for being there to lead our team through a mentally and physically tough season. Thank you for keeping us glued together even when we butted heads. Thank you for doing the hard work.
There was never a moment this season when I felt like you didn’t have our backs. I always knew I could go to you for anything in the world and you would be there to offer advice, encouragement, or anything else we needed.
Being a leader is already one of the hardest things a person can do. You have to be responsible, brave, hard-working, and patient. Then, you add one of the hardest sports into the mix and it’s bound to make the job even harder. Swimming is a sport where it can feel impossible some days to manage yourself, let alone 25 other people. Not only that, but swimming can feel like such a lonely sport. It takes very special people to make it feel like a team sport, day in and day out.
You have been insanely supportive. During those close to impossible sets when I was convinced the last place in the whole world I wanted to be was the pool, you yelled and screamed each and every one of our names until the work was done. Not to mention, each of you were at the end of a lane cheering at every single meet we had this season. That is irreplaceable.
Last but not least, you’ve worked hard. Everyday, the effort you’ve put in has inspired us to always give it our all. There are moments when it’s so easy just to quit and float through practice, but that was never an option for you.
You’ve become our best friends, our go-to’s, and our confidantes. But, more than that, you’ve been our role models. I look up to you and hope to someday act and have the opportunity to lead the team the way you have.
Love,
Your thankful teammates