Free Week - Team

Here in Oklahoma City, I have had an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of team. A team is a group of individuals with a common goal. That goal could be to win a Conference Championship, or to help each other succeed at an individual level. A team will pick you up when you are down. If you have a bad swim, they will try to get you going again, whether it is by telling you to let it go and move on, or by yelling at you to try and pump you up. Members of a team will back each other up. They will defend and support one another because they fight for a common cause. A team celebrates the victories of the individual, and sorrows when the individual falls short. No matter how good you are doing individually, you will not leave a meet fully satisfied if the team performs poorly as a whole. On the other hand, a poor individual performance can be forgotten in the joy of team success. My team is a team of brothers. We have experienced the high of high's together, but also felt the sting of defeat. These experiences, both good and bad, have made us a stronger team. We had to rely on each other when the chips were down and against us. We held each other up after each defeat. And when we were successful, we all shared in the excitement that was ours. Though some contributed more than others, no win this season could have come with one less person. Single races were the difference in all but two of our meets this season. We have gone to battle together, and returned both victoriously and in defeat, but shared the spoils and the disappointment together. That is what a team is all about.