Living In Fast Forward: Four Days in the Life of a Gator Volunteer

I've always encouraged people to get involved with volunteering for the Gators.  Summer swim is the most volunteer intensive sport, and volunteering is very rewarding.  No one works harder than the team reps, but there are plenty of other jobs that need to be done.  As a long-time Gator volunteer who knew nothing about the sport, I've done many jobs since getting involved.  Here's a write-up on one person's four days as a Gator volunteer.  Not everyone has to be this committed, although I'm going to miss it.

Friday, July 17th
7:55 am: I drive the mile down the road to the Passacantandos so John and I (mostly John) can put his old Thule rack on our Explorer for the coaches retreat to Wintergreen.  Carol and I have enlisted the Phalens to join us wrangling the 13 high school coaches who are coming up with us for the weekend to the mountains after the A meet.

John and Lisa are our dearest friends from swim team.  It's a shame Mollie has gone 100% to crew and left swim, but she's so talented at crew.  John is former exec director of Greenpeace USA, I'm a Republican political consultant.  Lisa worked for the Clinton Administration (hopefully the only one!), while Carol advised the business community on Senate races.  And yet Gator swim (and, oh yeah, our kids) brought us as close together as any two couples can be.  We've gone hiking, kayaking, skiing together.  Shared many meals and bottles of wine together.

It's going to be nice having John (our former Gator A meet announcer for multiple years) on Saturday as the announcer for the senior day festivities.

10:02 am: I send the first of many swim-related emails for the day.  Monday is the IM Invitational -- 13 teams at MVP for a huge meet. I'm the meet manager, so there's a ton of details to follow up on.  I ask Karl Metter, a former Gator team rep, to chalk the lines for the team areas.  Even though Jessica graduated last season, Karl is such a great guy that I know I can impose on him for this favor -- plus he's working Stroke and Turn for the event, so he gets a free shirt out of the deal!  It helps he's a lacrosse coach -- part of that job is chalking straight lines!

10:46 am: Dave Ruppe sends me an email gently reminding me that he sent the B meet write-up from Monday night for the blog on Wednesday, and I totally spaced on it (which is ironic in its own way).  Yikes. . .gotta get that up right away.  Dave does a nice job with his blog posts, and this is the first time I've totally forgotten.  I'm going to miss doing the blog -- also did it for the West Potomac softball team, so my creative writing period will be coming to a halt soon.

12:23 pm: Emily Bayer, the Gator assistant Head Coach, emails me about changing the set-up for the A meet tomorrow because of the rain.  Since I'm ref for the meet, I get to weigh in on that.  I have a different suggestion, so we hop on the phone, she likes my suggestion enough to get it approved by our esteemed Team Reps, the MVP park manager (Editor's note: Did you just call Brendan the Mount Vernon Park park manager?  Writer: I suppose so.)  Not to pat myself on the back, but this way everyone's happy, or at least people aren't as unhappy! (Postscript: It ends up being changed again Saturday morning, so my seemingly brilliant plan was trumped by an even better one!)

2:00 pm: After leaving work early, I drive up to the Blondin's house as Dave and Parker are batting the volleyball around.  Dave is the Data Dude for the IM Invitational, and we've got to finalize the first draft of the meet sheet.  Last year, I rushed over to his house at 9:30 pm and we finished around midnight.  Today, after a year under his belt, Dave has it nailed.  None of the problems and uncertainties from last year crop up.  Between being Data manager for the IM Invitational, Chief of Officials for the Gators, and running Ft. Hunt volleyball, he's got a lot on his plate (besides that whole job thing, of course!).  It's great to have a patient person like him to work through this with.

The best part about the 2:00 pm means my evening is free to join former Gator team reps Karl and Claudia Metter at the pool for the Rocklands bbq truck for dinner with Carol!

2:50 pm: Tonda spots a problem with the blog, and I go into fix it.  Except I can't.  I divert Dave from his work, and he can't fix it.  Tonda goes into the HTML code -- problem solved.  Tonda's work is a pretty good argument for more women in high tech.

3:30 pm: Dave Blondin and I (mostly Dave) are still working on the meet sheet for Monday.  We will send these to the 13 team reps participating in the meet.  Love the IM Invitational because 420 kids get to swim, and we get to show off our beautiful Mount Vernon Park.  The process working with Dave is seamless compared to last year -- we both learned from experience!

4:05 pm: Leave the Blondin's house.  The work on this (at this point) is virtually done.  Just a couple more emails, and we're where we need to be on the IM Invitational.  I'm taking the rest of the day off -- I hope!

6:15 pm: Okay, this really isn't Gator volunteer related, but it would not have happened without being one!  We go over to MVP to meet the Metters (team reps from 2005-2007) and have Rocklands BBQ food truck fare.  And adult beverages.  Dave Blondin wanders by.  Then I run into the Phalens (the haggard look of Team Reps goes away by Labor Day), the Bayers, and the McNamaras.  It's a mellow evening that makes MVP the best place to hangout in NOVA.

Saturday, July 18th
6:00 am: Since I woke up at 5:30 before the alarm, I had time to read the comics and the sports.  I save the front page for later.  Now, it's time to pop up and get ready for both the A meet and the assistant coach retreat for the Gator high schoolers.  First I pack for the overnight trip down to Wintergreen, and then I ready myself to ref.

I've really enjoyed working the deck over the years.  For someone who knew nothing about swim when Julia became a Gator in 1999, I've gotten to be Marshal, then Relay Take-off Judge, Stroke & Turn judge, Starter, and Referee.  The people who work the deck are dedicated to doing the job right.  You have the best seat in the house, and you get to watch some great races.

So, I prep for working my final A meet by reviewing the helpful handouts prepared by the NVSL, the USA Swim rule book, and the NVSL handbook.  Nothing has changed since the first two home A meets of the season, but refresher study is always helpful.

7:00 am: I make sure Torie and Carol are awake and getting ready for their respective roles (swimming and timing).  Without a swimmer this whole swimming thing is largely a moot point!

7:15 am: Usually I walk the three quarters of a mile over to MVP for A meets to save on parking, but we'll be leaving from the Park for the coaches' retreat right after the meet.  First thing is to make sure the set-up is proceeding fine, and to help wherever needed.

It's very cool to participate in set-up.  The pool goes from its usual look to looking great for the swim meet.  Former team reps like the Haleys, the aforementioned Metters, and the Rholls did a lot to change the MVP set-up from a tired, dumpy place to a first-class operation that is the rival of any NVSL pool for a professional look and operation.

Part of the job of referee is to check for safety -- is everything set up properly?  Is there junk in the water?  Is the water level high enough?  Is the scupper in place?  Lane lines tight?  The set up crew is so good that most everything is hunky-dory.  If you've never done set upt, you should show up at 7am on a Saturday home meet to help set up (or a Monday home B meet around 4pm).  Like timing, set up or take down is a great way to stick your toe in the water of Gator volunteering.

8:05 am: Gator warm-ups begin as the visiting team arrives from Vienna Woods.  Because of the recent rains (take that California -- you may have no humidity, but we've got more water than you can dream of!), the usual team areas are off limits.  That has resulted in significant discussion about team area location, and swimmers exiting the pool area.  All of that is handled with minimal input from the referee, so that's great news.

Paul van Damme is announcing his first A meet, and he nails it from the start.  He's hitting all his marks.  Turns out he's not just smart, he's an actual rocket scientist, so he loves checklists.  Given how well he's doing, I love him like he loves checklists (or something).  The meetings with the Vienna Woods (VW) team reps and coaches go smoothly.

The rest of warm-ups go well.

8:55 am: Time for the meet to start, on time as MVP always strives hard to do (and always succeeds!  No pressure for 2016!).  Hannibal Smith was right.

9:00 am: The first race is in the water, and we are off and running swimming.  The meet goes smoothly, and there are only four DQs, three of which are in the same event.  Earlier this season, during one lengthy DQ delay, announcer Chris Fulghum played the Gap Band's biggest hit.  I noted to him that playing "You dropped a bomb on me" is a fairly ironic song for DQs.

The meet is see-sawing back and forth, but that's not the concern of the ref.  The job of the deck officials is to make sure the swimmers are swimming within the rules.  In addition, the ref should work to minimize or fix problems, ensure fair and equitable competition, watch and stop poor sportsmanship (not an issue today or this season at all!), and keep the meet moving along.

Cameron Morey won fly by 0.01 and I didn't even realize it was that close, because I had already turned my attention to the swimmers in other lanes.  After I looked at the results post meet, it was clear there were a lot of great races.

10:30 am: It's Gator Senior Day.  Years ago, I realized, listening to senior day talks about the graduating Gators (and visiting teams when on the road) that there are no dumb swimmers.  It takes an amazing amount of discipline, focus, and willingness to work hard to swim from age 5 or 6 until 18 (or even beyond).

Former Gator announcer John Passacantando came back to read the bios as the seniors and their parents marched through the arch of fins.  John's kids grew up with these swimmers on the team, so he knows most of them very well -- years of Primos after Relay Carnival, the Pazzs hosting the All-Star Relay breakfast, late nights of kids tearing through your house or simply hanging out -- John was perfect for the job as he ad-libbed some touching and memorable comments.

Carol started the arch of fins at West Potomac swim senior day, and carried it over to MVP for the last several years.  It's a lot more fun having the youngsters on deck and involved than off deck and hopefully paying attention.

Anyhow, the point of senior day is not just to celebrate the Gator careers of some great kids, but also so parents of younger kids see into their future.  I don't know if you will one, two, three (or more!) senior days, but relish them.

11:00 am: On Senior Day, the meet runs slower, so we are just getting to relays now.  Individual events are great, but the relays are the best.  The deck clears off a bit, and the races go well.  There are no early take-offs, and the Gators won the meet.  There was some slight post-meet controversy, but since the score was decisive in MVP's favor, it did not matter too much.

While waiting for the final results to print so I can check and sign them as the Meet Referee, I give Susan Neal, our chief table person, the usual hard time.  Susan doesn't ever fluster, so she just fires right back at me.  It's all in good fun.

People don't realize how important every role is at a swim meet.  The table is key to make sure the times are recorded right, the meet is properly scored, and the swimmers get their proper ribbons.  Nothing happens until Talley says "Timers, clear your watches."  The Marshals are in charge of safety and ensuring quiet for the start.  The Announcer informs the crowd what is going on, updates the score, and, most importantly, works conscientiously to pronounce even the most difficult names correctly.

12:00 noon:  After scarfing down a hamburger and more water, the four boys on the coaches retreat hop into my Explorer and we head for Wintergreen.  We've got the aforementioned Thule racks, two lasagnas, paper plates, and off we go.  Carol drives one car out 66 to 29, and the Phalens also take a carload -- 13 coaches in all.

Time for a quick vote in the car.  "We can listen to country, 80s pop, classic rock, or Sinatra," I note, throwing Frank in there as a slight joke, certain that four 15-18 year old boys do not even know who he is.  Well, Sinatra got the most votes, so Siriusly Sinatra it was -- well, at least for two hours.

I make the decision for my car that we'll take I-95 using the HOT lanes for free.  Bad decision.  The HOT lane was great -- but at mile 143 those lanes end and we went straight to traffic nightmare.  I got off at Aquia for Rte. 1, but after a couple of miles, that was a mistake.  It was grim.  Mercifully, the guys choose sleep over mutiny, but it was touch and go.

Speaking of touch and go, the entire weekend I wasn't sure the Explorer would make it.  The wrench icon came on in Fredericksburg, and then the check engine light while on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The car got us there and back, but is now in the shop for a new transmission (#bummer!).

2:00 pm: We finally break free in Fredricksburg of the traffic.  I wasted a good thirty minutes by trying to get to Wintergreen faster than Route 29.  In case you are wondering, we did end up taking 29 to 66 back -- and it was a breeze!

2:15 pm: Passing a farm, I shout to the half asleep car -- "Hey" quite loudly and point at hay.  They laughed.  Let me tell you this though -- it only works once -- after that teens become bitter and disillusioned at you (I have three children of my own, and since we often had guests with us at Wintergreen, my daughters have heard the joke far too often!).

4:00 pm: Well, we finally make it to Wintergreen -- which could have been a lot faster had I not gambled on I-95.  We unload, set up the condo, and await the others.  Carol, after a stop for food pick-up in Charlottesville, rolls up and the car is quickly unloaded.  The Phalens arrive a little later -- the gang's all here!

5:00 pm: Tonda and Carol have work to do, so Jim and I take the 13 coaches for two hikes.  They are both short drives away, and both are spectacular.  The Gator energy that had been drained by the meet and car  ride come roaring back.

On the hike to the Plunge, which is a rocky cliff top featuring a huge drop-off to certain death, I have to be the old guy and stop them from doing dangerous things.  Molly Cabral climbs a tree that has barely enough dirt for roots.  I call her down -- who knows what's to stop the tree from pitching over the cliff!  Cassidy Bayer goes far out on the sloping rock and stands on tiptoes.  Great, I think to myself: MVP's Olympic hopeful dies or is maimed on the coaches' retreat!  (See the related blog below for pictures of the retreat).

6:15 pm: After the waterfall hike and a stop at a scenic overlook, we head back.  With two across-the-hall condos, the coaches head over to the other and start playing games and hanging out.  The parents open adult beverages while Carol finishes cooking.

8:00 pm: After chowing down on lasagna, salad, and bread, and a quick Happy Birthday cake for Torie, they really get down to work on paper plate awards!  Meanwhile, the parents are out on the balcony, star gazing and relaxing.  The swim world, so crazed at this point in the season, can wait till tomorrow.

Sunday, July 19th 
7:00 am: Up at 6am, I handled IM Invitational emails from other team reps and watch the sun come up over the Rockfish Valley.  Spectacular (not the emails, the sunrise!).

Then I knock on all the doors at 7am.  I had promised them the most invigorating view hike of the weekend if they wanted to get up.  At first only Tres and Ian Neal get up.  Then Parker and Elaina are up.  Okay, it's just the six of us -- let's go.  Well, then Molly got up, and Cassidy.  Molly went in and made Ian Baker and Cameron get up.  Then Anna woke up to go,  So we were up to eleven, including nine coaches.  For a Sunday morning, that was impressive turnout.

7:25 am: Up the stairs to the parking lot, and off to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Twenty minutes later, we're not the first cars there, but it is not jam-packed either.  The hike is a steep 20-25 minute climb along the Appalachian Trail and a side trail.

The hike itself is kind of boring -- an uphill slog through the woods.  But the payoff is tremendous -- stunning views to the west, north, and east from giant rocks that make for great scrambling.  The kids are thrilled by it (and the cool breeze) and scramble all over.   It was hard to corral them all for a photo!

9:00 am: I call back to let Carol know we are on our way, so she can start Operation Pancake.  She cooked a great breakfast (yes, fresh fruit also!) for 18 people.

10:45 am: After everyone helped clean up, Jim and I took two cars down to the lake.  Carol and Tonda stayed behind to either clean, have some peace, or both.  With new kids in the car, I used the "Hay" joke again. They loved it.  No, really, they did.

The lake is a beautiful setting in the valley, with mountains all around, a giant water trampoline, a dock, and an iceberg to play.  The coaches all had a great time just swimming for fun, even when they would hit the pockets of freezing mountain water in the lake.

2 pm: After volleyball, lunch, and more swimming, it was time to hit the road.  There was a lot of sleep involved (not the drivers, of course), but the stop at Dairy Queen in Charlottesville woke everyone back up for a bit.  Home by 5:30.  I was going to take care of last minute IM Invitational details and do some A meet blogging Sunday night, but was too worn out to be effective.

(Team Rep note - Glen wasn't too worn out to send several emails on Sunday evening while Dave Blondin and Tonda were processing the final batch of IMI swimmer scratches/entries and printing cards. We quaked with each one, as we were just trying to get the cards done and were hoping that there were no changes each time we saw his email address pop into our inboxes.)

Monday, July 20th
3:15 am: So much for sleeping until my 4:30am alarm.  I woke up thinking of a million details regarding the IMI.  So, I start sending out emails.  I'm sure the 13 team reps wonder why they don't just receive one email with multiple details, but honestly, Team Reps are so worn out at this time of the season that they won't read the whole thing.

Plus the parking list needs to be put together.  And the blog articles from Saturday need to be written. The key part is, it all gets done before having to leave for my 9 am meeting.  The client who called for the meeting on Monday afternoon has a swimmer who is involved in the meet for another team.  When I point out that I can only do the morning, he shifts from 2pm to 9am.  That's a little lucky for me.

Noon: Time to leave the office, get home, and take care of some more details.  Carol, who will be serving as parking boss, helps me get everything organized to take over.  Then we go put up signs for parking at St. Luke's and at Hollin Hall, along with signs pointing the way to MVP.

1:45 pm: We hit the park and start putting up the signs for the team areas, and, with the help of several Gator volunteers, start putting out the trash and recycling containers.  Oh, it's hot.

Weather always plays such a large role in summer swim.  At the beginning of the season, it's often too cool to have in-pool practice.  Then, there is the rain/thunderstorm issues.  B meets get delayed. I always say if there is a drought, we just need to schedule a MVP-Mansion House B meet to bring rain and break the drought.  And, we've never had as much rain on Saturday mornings during A meets as we did this season.The other problem is unbearable heat.  We're not quite there today, but it's so humid it only takes a couple of steps to start sweating.  

2:30 pm: As the set-up continues, it's time for a quick drive home and a pointless shower and change of clothes.

3:00 pm: Back to the pool, this time with the ribbons and medals and trophies (oh my!).  Warm-ups start as teams are streaming in to fill up their team areas (which Karl Metter so kindly marked again).  The announcer is there, setting up with the help of Lauren Cardillo.  Susan Neal arrives to run the table.  The deck officials show up, as do the timers.  The warm-ups are done by age groups, so there is a constant turnover.

There are small problems to troubleshoot.  The parking, which has been problematic in the past, is running smoothly.  The neighbors don't show up to complain, and the griping about the hike to the pool from where they parked is minimal.  Phew -- parking for big meets at MVP is always the biggest challenge we face.  Given the set-up of the pool, MVP is a great place for a big meet.  Given the parking, that's problematic.

5:05 pm: Well, the meet start five minutes late, which is the first time that has happened in the three years in a row it's been held at MVP.  Once it gets going, however, nothing can stop it.  There are 10 events, with seven heats each.  That's seventy races.  There are six swimmers in nearly every heat.  Doing the math, that's 420 swimmers if every lane is filled.  We probably end up with 412 swimmers.  That's a lot of opportunity to swim in a big meet for a lot of kids.

I love the fact that smaller pools such as Lorton Station and Pinewood Lake are in the meet, even with larger pools like MVP and Mansion House.  With the 13 teams split into three divisions based on their NVSL seeding, every team has a chance to win their division.

The 8 & under fly events (boys and girls) starts slow, because there are a lot of DQs. Even the 9-10 IMs are a bit slow -- for the 9 year olds, this is their first time doing the 100 IM, so there is more DQs than at the older age levels.

6:30 pm:  It's time for the 10 minute break.  Just before the break, I pull out the coach of the year award (won by Hollin Hills' Seamus O'Connor).  I noticed the date is listed as July 20, 2014.  Yikes -- when we checked the proof, we made sure the title of the award is correct (the Charlie Chadbourn Coach of the Year Award) and the winner was spelled correctly.  We skipped over the date -- ugh.  Well, Seamus handles it well, and returns it to me at the end of the meet.  (Postscript: it was fixed and returned to him on Sunday the 26th).

8:30 pm: The meet ends with the coach IM.  While it's not scored, it does allow the kids to cheer like mad for their coaches, and it allows the table to get caught up with the results as I hover impatiently.  (They do a great job, and it is a lot of important work, but I still want it both immediately and error-free, which isn't exactly fair!)  One of the perks of being meet manager is that I get to announce the winners of the trophies.  It's fun as the kids come up with their coaches for the celebratory picture!

11:30 pm: The meet is over.  The takedown is over, and the post-clean-up adult beverages and snacks are done.  It's our last time at a meet on Monday nights at MVP.  We walk out, slightly nostalgic and slightly looking forward to the next chapter after Gator volunteering.  Of all of the things Carol and I have done as volunteers (softball coach, Girl Scout leader, swim official for high school, team rep for high school swim, soccer coach, line judge, umpire, softball team blogger, to name a few), nothing was as much fun, or involved as many friendships, as our various volunteer roles for Gator swim.

(If three retrospectives from one person on Gator parenthood/volunteering is a bit much, I apologize. I'm just trying to communicate to folks how much fun summer swim is.  I actually started writing this July 17th and only finished it on the 27th!  Sorry, my plan was to put this up last week, but never had the time.  Thanks for the platform all these years, and uh, have a good life!)