Memories of a Gator

by Maddy Bolger

(Editor's Note: Most seasons, one or two graduating seniors will write a post for the blog -- Memories of a Gator.  It's great for parents of younger kids to read, so they understand what it means to grow up as a Gator -- summer after summer of swim team from being Little Gators to being assistant coaches and heading off to college.

We have the most seniors on the team in at least the last 15 years, and I expect there will be more "Memories" in the coming days from other seniors.

Maddy graduated from West Potomac High School and will be going to Duke University in August to study public policy, or something along those lines.)

Every year since the age of five, my summer has consisted of swim team. My uncle has a Friday night wedding in New York in the summer? We drive through the night to get back in time to participate in the Saturday meet. Family vacations? Taken in August, after all races have been swum. I cannot say I loved every minute of swimming. As a younger swimmer I would jump into the pool during those first few weeks of practice and come out blue and shivering, wanting nothing to do with the pool or the sport of swimming. I much rather preferred to sit wrapped in a towel on the side of the pool in the sun and watch the brave faces of those who made it through a full practice. But the more time I spent in the pool and with the team, the more I grew to love swimming with the Mount Vernon Park Gators. Now I cannot even begin to imagine summer without the team.

After 13 seasons, I think I’ve seen it all. From winless to undefeated years and everything in between, I have witnessed Mount Vernon Park rise through the divisions to become the powerhouse pool of the area (take that, Waynewood!), yet still managing to have the most fun at the same time. Between the cheering, costumes, car paint, hair spray, and body paint, the Gators are one of the most spirited teams in the NVSL.

One of my favorite memories was getting locked into a passionate fifteen minute long cheering competition with Ravensworth Farm, each team shouting, “We’ve got spirit”, attempting to be louder than the other, and therefore delaying the start of the meet. Neither team wanted to relinquish the emotional cheer victory to the other.

 

A different Saturday meet we had the opportunity to compete against a local pool, Mansion House. Mark Faherty, a good friend of Coach Paul and a winter coach to several swimmers on the team, was head coach at the time. They brought pots and pans and noisemakers. We dressed up as superheroes and put Mark’s face on a scarecrow. Both teams knew it was all in good fun and there was never a quiet moment at the meet. When you’re having that much fun cheering on both your teammates and your friends, nobody really cares what the score was at the end of the meet (we did win, however!).

Next year I am going to miss the swim meets, but I am especially going to miss the 13 and over practice. In my opinion, we have the funniest, most interesting group of teenagers in the area on the team and practice is always an adventure. I would walk in at 7:30 every morning never knowing if we would be trying to touch the flags by jumping off the diving board or intensely kicking for 15 minutes straight. We’d bond over the crazy things Paul and Kellee would say or laugh about the horror movie we had watched at teen night. I’m going to miss driving Paul insane every morning with some of the best friends I’ve ever had. Team Bucket Urns dominate water polo!

I loved every part of coaching this team. From the races, the cheers, the laughter, the teasing, and even the yelling, my time as a coach has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life thus far. The excitement on a swimmer’s face after dropped time or a narrow victory is incomparable and I was always glad to share in their thrill. But I also just liked messing with the kids, and they teased me right back.

 

Often this season, I had my sunglasses stolen off my face as a prank by the younger swimmers and was always relieved to get them back by the end of a meet. It felt reminiscent of my 8 and under gator years when I would steal Steven Berry’s hat off his head as often as I could. I’m going to miss tying a towel around my neck to transform into SuperCoach and calling my 8 and unders my goon squad. One of my proudest accomplishments as a coach this season was getting the swimmers to yell “taters!” instead of “Gators!” at practice, when Coach Paul said “eyeballs”.

The old traditions- chanting about being a little Gator who lives in a hut and shakes my butt, staying up all night and the end-of-season campout, and the gator grunt taught me to love swim team. I have also gotten to enjoy building new traditions such as post-divisional relay dinner at Primo’s, the triple Gator grunt, Chinese food after All-Star relays, and of course, getting pied in the face at the end of the season.

 

I cannot wait to come back and visit next year to see these traditions live on and observe as new traditions start. Thank you to everyone who has ever been involved with making this team so special and helping me become who I am today. I am awed by how well our team is able to compete at high levels while also being able to maintain good standards of sportsmanship, a true testament to the dedication and compassion of those involved with the team. I have had 13 great seasons with this team and I look forward to seeing what you all can do next summer.

Go Taters- I mean- Gators!!!