The 2011-2012 girls swim team is going to have to change. Not just because last year’s seniors left, but because head coach Laura Vukich will not be coaching the girls that she has been with for the past three years. We have been so lucky to have her as a coach; she is a great influence and always knows how to make us work.
I am one of the lucky 30 girls that were able to spend a great season these last 3 years. She has a great way of coaching and to not have her there for my senior year is going to be difficult. Laura is having her first child and that is why she will be cheering us on from the stands this season. Laura picked Taylor Smith ’12, Genna Soloway ’12, Morgan Zalewski ’12, and myself, Chanel Metzler ’12, to be captains for the season.
We will have to get used to not having Laura craziness. Like when she jumps up and down hoping that it will make us go faster, and we do, knowing that we can make her proud. She is so funny and all of the girls have really connected with her, even over some of the funniest things. Every year Laura will read us a Dr. Seuss book of her choice. She even does the noises and voices of the characters.
We know that the new coach will never fill Laura’s shoes completely but we know that she will walk in her foot steps. Over the summer and the new season we hope that Laura still show up to some of the practices just to cheer us on and see us working hard, something she taught us to do. Swim isn’t a sport that you can do half heartedly, it’s all or nothing.
During the next season we are not only changing, but we are also growing. We are a very close team and we love being able to spend so much time together. Laura always told us that to inspire and drive us on that all we needed to do was be that .08th of a second faster then the girl next to us.
She knows who we could beat and who we needed to work 85,000 times harder to take the lead. But she never gave up hope that we could do it because we are such a strong team, and the new coach has huge shoes to fill.
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