in memoriam

yesterday morning, the killer whales held the last timetrial of the season.  it was also the last official competition held at mike smithers pool, as the new pool is set to open up on june 30th.  this changing over of facilities marks the end of an era for me, as mike smithers has been my "home away from home" for approximately 20 years now...so, it's bittersweet.

mom first put me in a pool around 6 months, when we lived in indiana.  when we moved back to ketch, i took every level of swim lessons available - some were at the now defunct valley park pool, but most were at mike smithers.  some of the instructors i had still live in town or come back periodically.  it took a few rounds of super seals for mom to finally let me join KKW (the coach at the time had a reputation for being mean), but i started around 10 yrs old and continued through high school...lots of meets, LOTS of practices, many memories...

• like buying my yellow & orange cheetah print suit from jd pence (who i ended up working for during college) when they came to town for a swim meet, and wearing all through high school as well as every swim meet warm-up in college.
• or our high school synchronized swimming routine at regionals my senior year - complete with fake hibiscus flowers and googly eyes.
• making great friends that have drifted over the years, but still occasionally keep in touch with.  and not just locals; you see the same people from around southeast at every meet and house with them.
• finally getting a new digital scoreboard after years of the oldschool one that never worked.
• laughing at how many times the touchpads NEVER work when the meet is starting.
• writing events, heats, and lanes in sharpie all over our arms at meets so we didn't miss races.  at a 3-day meet, this meant your arms were COVERED in black writing by the end of the weekend.  and trying to explain it at school on monday? never quite worked. 
• black team swim suits with the native american-inspired killer whale logo.  boring, but classic.
• trying to find maroon team suits for high school season that didn't look like they were from the 70's.

i hadn't really realized the significance of the event until the end (i was a long, noisy, chaotic morning) when coach asked me how i was feeling about it - gee, thanks for bringing it up!  as i told him, it's been my second home for about 20 years, and even though that makes me sound insanely old, it's the truth.  it's hard, and it will be even harder when we move everything out into the new pool, but i'm also ready to be able to coach and not get dripped tar on by the leaky roof every time it rains.  i'm hoping there's some way i can get a piece of "memorabilia" before mike smithers closes, like a tile or something from the bottom of the pool.

it's still a little early, but thanks for the memories!