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Swimming in Spirit
"You can't fault them for it," said Haibel, a Rockville coach and parent. "In Washington, everything's competitive. Tilden Woods has come up from lower divisions, and to get here, they had to have focus. We're a little more laid-back because we've been in A for five years."
Focus during the summer can pay dividends during the school year and beyond. Michael Raab, an all-American swimmer who almost made the 2004 U.S. Olympic team, was a Dolphin from ages 6 to 18 and credits the team with laying the foundation for his career.
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Swim Spirit The team from Tilden Woods considers itself the most spirited and zealously dedicated in the Montgomery County Swim League. |
"They've just taken it to a new level," said Raab, 23, who drove from his home in Charlottesville for the Rockville meet. "The friendship aspect was always there, but now they've started to win more."
'Spirit-Wise, We Won'
Well, last year they were winning more. With the team on a three-meet losing streak, the neighborhood caravaned to Olney for the division championship yesterday. On the way, they passed the coaches, who stood on a Route 97 median, swooping giant "TW" flags.
In the pool parking lot at 7:30 a.m., boisterous Flower Valley swimmers were spray-painting their hair red. At halftime, the team marched up to the Tilden Woods swimmers and engaged them in one of those unending scream-offs.
Sensing a stalemate, the two sides quieted, conspired and then launched a joint cheer against Hallowell across the pool.
After four hours of this (and some swimming), the final scores were tallied. Tilden Woods took third place out of six teams -- a strong showing, sure, but still just one part of a vast summer experience.
"We came here today having absolutely surpassed what was expected of us," Kaufman told his team. "What a great season. Today, spirit-wise, we won."
But the last meet isn't the last of anything.
There's a team banquet today.
An adult happy hour Aug. 11.
A kids movie and s'mores night Aug. 25.
Even the swimmers' dogged work at the championships was a prelude to more play last night. They planned to stay up till dawn, cooking out, looking back and holding their breath for next summer, and the summer after that, and the summer after that . . .
This is one in an occasional series on how we spend our summers.
