Reflections of a Gator - by Taylor Makin

         

Here you have it all, the first Makin child to graduate out of the gator swim team. I found out while trying to write this it is very hard to express the impact that my years on the gator swim team had on my life. Being part of the gators shaped my personality. All the fun costumes, pies flying in coaches faces, jumping around screaming and dancing… all the dancing contributed to my fun, goofy personality. I still remember when I was around 9, coach Bob ( who was really coach Julia) hanging Bea over the pond by her ankles telling her she was gonna drop her in and let the gator eat her. And I will never forget all the fun pizza dinners at primos waiting to find out what relays made it to allstar relays. I could go on and on about all the memories I have from basically living at the pool as a kid.

One of the biggest memories I have of when I was younger was making my first all stars. Swimming always came so easily to both of my siblings. Everyone knew their names. No one really knew mine. Sometimes it felt as if I wasn't holding up the family name. Making my first allstars on my own really gave me so much self confidence. So what if I wasn’t my sister, I was me and that was enough. 

One thing that the gators gave to me that will live on forever is my love for teaching kids. Since I was 12, I have helped coaching the kids however I could. The look on the kids faces when they finally got something they wanted to do so badly. It made my heart smile. I somehow just knew teaching and coaching was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I have the gators to thank for that. Gators was way more than a summer job. This was my family. They have seen me at my highest and at my lowest, and supported me through both. There are no words in the english dictionary that can describe the impact gators made on my life. Though my time as a swimmer may be over, you have yet to see the last of me. Someone's gotta be my dad's right hand man, am I right?

My memories:

• Winning my heat at allstars in 50 breaststroke

• Almost getting my tooth knocked out playing water polo with the olders kids for the first time at 13

• Smacking my back on the water trying to touch the flags with my foot

• Teaching the 8& unders the “Im a little gator” cheer each year

• Getting to dress up in my gator onesie and dancing around like a fool

• Painting the little girls nails before the green and white meet

• One time someone brought bagels and cream cheese to practice and we decided to sit around and eat bagels and talk for the first 45 minutes of practice instead of practicing

• Beating the team relay record with Sheridan, Cassidy, and Parker