Swimming Senior Speech (Not Bro-Code Related)

This is just my Senior Speech for my swim banquet, let me know what you think! (Sorry it's not Bro-Code related :/ there will be another blog coming out soon) 

Hey, I’m Daron, i’m a senior, I play soccer sometimes, my dad is an assistant coach, and I joined swimming three years ago. My speech is more of a story/summary about my swimming career and why I love swimming, so bear with me.

I joined swimming my sophomore year because of constant nagging from Cole and the rest of the Bateman troupe. On my first day of swimming, I felt a little more than awkward, Fairbanks was scary, and I was surrounded by a bunch of guys who were all wearing what essentially was a glorified loincloth. I had never swam competitively before and had no idea what fly was or what a breakout looked like. Fortunately, I was soon embraced by the team and became part of the family. My first year went by quick, and pretty much the only interesting thing that happened was that I figured out I was decent at backstroke, and missed the section cut by only two seconds.

My second season came around and after narrowly missing sections the previous year, I was bound and determined to make it to the second taper group that year. After a long season, I ended up making it to the section meet and doing alright while I was there.

This last season was focused on returning to sections and making it to finals. While that goal wasn’t accomplished, I figured something out. I figured out why I love swimming.

Throughout my swim career, I asked myself “Why?”. Why swim? Why put myself through all of this stress, soreness, and the never-ending feeling of hunger after practice? Why would I want to sacrifice my time to flipturn from wall to wall for three hours a day, six days a week, even on holidays, just to wake up early and get home late from meets that I only swim for five minutes in?

I figured out the answer. I figured out why I love swimming. I love swimming because I love the feeling of accomplishment when you look up at your time and see that all the sacrificing you did was not in vain. I love swimming because when you’re on a podium and you are standing with your team, you realize that you are part of something bigger than yourself, and you helped it achieve something great. By far the most important reason I love swimming, though, is because of the team. I love being surrounded by a group of guys you call your family. Even though things may get rocky for this dysfunctional group of dudes, you know that if things go downhill in a hurry, you have friends there that have your back and will help in any way they can.

I want to thank this team for three great seasons, and I want to thank a few of you individually. Ethan, thank you for your inspirational hugs during sets and for your contagious aura of confidence and awesomeness, and proving the statement “Once a Swimmer, Always a Swimmer”. Riley, thank you for your insane ability to have the most confusing sarcasm ever and for being the one person who truly made me realize what being a captain meant. Zachy, thank you for being my partner in our super secret handshakes, and for being my best friend on bus rides and during section finals, I’m not sure if I could ever get mad at you, even if I tried. Kody, thank you for being the team unpaid taxi driver, and for being my inseparable best friend and for being there for me all the time, especially after my races, you have no idea how much that helps. Cole, thank you for never giving up on convincing me to join, it is by far the best decision I have made my entire high school career, and without you, I never would have been a part of the Tigershark family. Rory, thank you for your never-ending strive to make me better, and for pushing me to the edge of my limits and past. And to all the swimmers, thank you for being a part of the Tigersharks program, it’s pretty safe to say that this isn’t wouldn’t be a family without you and I look forward to competing against you at the Alumni meet and watching you guys swim at Maroon and Gold and State. I love you all, and I will remember you for the rest of my life.