The start of a new swim year. No countdowns, no corks flying at midnight. Just another day in the life of a swimmer. After a couple of weeks off where family members wonder why you didn't want to go near the hotel pool you finally get to come back to the people that understand you. Many come to the pool wondering what new ideas their coach had time to learn about at Nationals or to come up with on vacation. As for the things my athletes can expect: just one thing: Leadership. It is what I have been looking for out of them for the past 6 years since arriving in Santa Barbara. I think times have taken another shift back to an historical time where people wanted to be lead somewhere. Some to greatness, some to new experiences, and some just away from where they are. I have been lucky enough to have been lead by two of the greatest parents anyone could ask for, a coach that pushed when it was time to push me, and pulled when it was time to pull me. Then I tripped upon a guy by the name of Gordon Collet. He is one of those people you don't have to try to remember if you met him. If you met him, you know. He is a guy that will schedule a bike ride with you on a Saturday and put in a good 15 mile run before meeting up with you for the ride. You will find out about the "warm-up" run when you are on the hardest part of the ride, can't catch your breath, and he is talking to you about the run he went on, slowly describing the places he ran past and you are figuring out that these places are 10 miles away from each other, then he accelerates ahead out of sight only to come back about 20 minutes later to "check on you" and tell you we are almost there, just a few more turns. He taught me never to trust that statement: "we are almost there". He also taught me about loyalty. Loyalty to the right people: "your family and your athletes". I regularly use one of his lines when yet another swimmer is telling where they will be instead of practice. He lets them talk, then, very politely, but clearly says: "OK, we'll be here" (at the pool). Gordon is someone in life that can be counted on more than anyone I had ever met. He will be at the pool. He will be there before you get there and after you leave. He will say very little to you, but you better listen, this man has seen it all and only shares with you what you need to know at the time. He tried to teach me how to sail, or maybe he wanted to dump me in the bay and couldn't close the deal, either way, those Saturdays on that Cal 20 were absolutely priceless. A Cal 20 a sailboat that actually is so heavy it shouldn't float, but it does. The mast is not very high so it shouldn't catch enough wind, but it does. It beats the odds. It is the perfect boat for Gordon. I got to experience it's retirement trip around the bay and even was given the helm at one point. It was a day that was very typical of the SF Bay. It was hot, cold, dry, wet, calm, windy all in about three hours time out on the water.
We went outside the Gate (under the bridge), through the center of the potato patch pictured here.
The potato patch is a shoal under the Golden Gate bridge where there is about a 5-10 foot drop off, then rapids, then a 5-10 foot climb back to the surface). There is not a roller coaster in the world that can prepare you for your first ride through the potato patch in a Cal 20. He did not tell me it was coming or even that it existed. He did enjoy the look of impending death on my face as we went through the 10 seconds of rapids that seemed like a lifetime. I was scared to death but I was safe and would succeed because I was with Gordon Collet. A feeling that his platoon probably felt in Vietnam on a regular basis. A feeling that his athletes feel as he is giving them their next set at practice every day. This could kill me, but I'm with Gordon so I'm safe. He retired the boat after that perfect day on the bay. After we tied it up over in Berkeley Harbor at the end of the day as we enjoyed a quick sandwich at the Marina Deli he said:"well the boat is now for sale, there will not be a better day than today. Time to move on". There was a hell of a lesson in that day and in that statement and I didn't understand it until I started sending swimmers off to college. I needed to let them go, we had our time, we made our success. We can try to match it during the summer as we continue to chase down that perfect swim, but they need to go and experience a new skipper and who knows, maybe they will have an event better day ahead. Maybe they will come back and make me better. The key though: let them go. Let them take your lessons and apply them in their new environment. As for the swimmers I will see tomorrow at the pool: prepare to head for something harder and more fun than today, take it on head first and we will see where it takes us.
See you at the pool.............
The potato patch is a shoal under the Golden Gate bridge where there is about a 5-10 foot drop off, then rapids, then a 5-10 foot climb back to the surface). There is not a roller coaster in the world that can prepare you for your first ride through the potato patch in a Cal 20. He did not tell me it was coming or even that it existed. He did enjoy the look of impending death on my face as we went through the 10 seconds of rapids that seemed like a lifetime. I was scared to death but I was safe and would succeed because I was with Gordon Collet. A feeling that his platoon probably felt in Vietnam on a regular basis. A feeling that his athletes feel as he is giving them their next set at practice every day. This could kill me, but I'm with Gordon so I'm safe. He retired the boat after that perfect day on the bay. After we tied it up over in Berkeley Harbor at the end of the day as we enjoyed a quick sandwich at the Marina Deli he said:"well the boat is now for sale, there will not be a better day than today. Time to move on". There was a hell of a lesson in that day and in that statement and I didn't understand it until I started sending swimmers off to college. I needed to let them go, we had our time, we made our success. We can try to match it during the summer as we continue to chase down that perfect swim, but they need to go and experience a new skipper and who knows, maybe they will have an event better day ahead. Maybe they will come back and make me better. The key though: let them go. Let them take your lessons and apply them in their new environment. As for the swimmers I will see tomorrow at the pool: prepare to head for something harder and more fun than today, take it on head first and we will see where it takes us. 
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