Good evening RFD Families,

As I am writing this last email, I want to thank you all for the most amazing swim season this summer. It was an honor getting to lead this team through so many amazing accomplishments, and even more of one getting to work with each and every one of your swimmers. I am proud to let you know that they all have grown so much and have proved themselves to be true Water Rats.

I also would like to give a special congratulations to all of our All Star Swimmers who swam yesterday morning. Throughout the week, we were told that RFD was going to be able to send more swimmers than we had originally thought. Instead of just the 6 swimmers who had qualified after Divisionals (Lucie, Kai, David, Clara, Gabe, and Aiken), we had 3 more swimmers qualify for All Stars. Liam Kane, Audrey Do, and Abby Deer were named All Star swimmers for 2018 with Liam making it in 50 Back, and Audrey and Abby making it in 50 Breast.

While Liam and Aiken were unable to swim this weekend, the seven swimmers that represented RFD on Saturday swam beautifully and had some great results.

Lucie finished 4th place in all of NVSL for both her Free and Fly races, dropping time in both events going 17.45 in Free and 18.93 in Fly.

David dropped time in his Free going 30.28 and finished 15th overall, and Kai went from being seeded 10th to finishing 4th after dropping a second in the 50 Back going 33.33!

Clara finished 11th in the 100 IM going 1:15.80 and then tied for 8th in 50 Breast after going 38.40!

Gabe also finished 11th in his 50 Free going 26.89 and tied for 9th in 50 Fly with a 29.10.

As for the 15-18 Girls 50 Breast, we had a true showing as to what it means to be a Water Rat. Audrey swam a beautiful 50 Breast and went a best time! However, due to a NVSL mess up with the Clerk of Course and Meet Sheet, Abby was not able to swim 50 Breast in her heat as they believed she was not supposed to swim. After a long debate with the officials, Abby was given the chance to rightfully swim. They had said that she would be able to swim with a friend and Audrey willingly stepped up to swim with Abby even after a long and hard race. NVSL then changed their minds and said Abby would only be able to swim in a heat by herself, so after a quick warm up, Abby stepped up to the block by herself in front of the hundreds of spectators and swimmers there watching. Abby went on to swim fantastically and drop two seconds, a personal best since she was a 13-14, and she proved to NVSL why she deserved to swim by finishing 12th overall. Both Abby and Audrey showed true dignity, character, and poise, and these girls really proved what fine young women they have become. It was a moment that I was truly proud of as a coach, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more from either of them.

It was a successful day for the Water Rats, and each All Star swimmer should be proud of how well they did! Make sure if you see any of them to congratulate them on their amazing swims.

I would finally like to congratulate each and every Water Swimmer and Parent one more time because you all truly have made this season one to remember. I am so grateful for being able to have coached the sport that I love dearly to your swimmers this season, and I hope that they have enjoyed every second of it as much as I have. Thank you all for making my first year as Head Coach so wonderful as it was, and I look forward to seeing your swimmers continue to thrive next year.

May you all have a wonderful rest of the summer and be able to enjoy the remaining days at the pool without any swim practice or meets :)

Best Wishes,

Coach Ryan McLaughlin