This is a competitive swimming team, so we obviously are looking to learn and train in order to swim as fast as possible.  However, there are two things that in the end are the most important.

1. Life Lessons

An extremely small percentage of swimmers will go on in their later lives to continue to be actively involved in the sport.  Most will go on to work in a field of study that they learn while in college, and they will have families of their own.  What is important is that they look back on their time as a competitive swimmer fondly and see that they now apply the lessons they learned in their current lives.  Some of those lessons are: time management, hard work, dedication to a task, goal setting, honesty, diversity, and many many more.

2. Relationships

Our everyday life is based on the relationships we create with others and how those relationships are fostered.  Learning from others who are similar to us as well as those who are very different than us.  When you spend so much time with someone, it is important to learn from those personal interactions.  It is also a great way to develop life long friendships with teammates as well as coaches.  How you interact with others, tells others (future employers, in-laws, business associates, etc.) a lot about you.