I’ve always hated swimming. I hated it in high school because I couldn’t go to sleepovers on Friday nights, I couldn’t go on long summer vacations because I had to train, and I could never go anywhere fun after school because of practice. I hated it freshman year of college because I had to give up sorority events, weekday parties, and ever sleeping past 6 a.m. I hated it in general because the water is always cold, I was never the best at it, and I would have rather done something more graceful, like dancing or gymnastics. Instead, my hair is always a mess, the chlorine dries out my face, and I can never paint my nails. Swimming isn’t the first choice for most high school girls who only care about shopping and worrying about boys, and it became the same situation in college. I’ve always hated swimming -- but now I don’t. This year was different for a few reasons, but the number one reason swimming changed for me this year, with no exaggeration, was Coach Rhodes.

Nate came to us at an awkward period of transition. I won’t hide the fact that last year was impossibly rocky as far as team unity went, mostly because it wasn’t hidden at all; you could cut the tension with a butter knife. It was hard for little freshman Madison, who had chosen Brenau because she’d thought the team dynamic was exceptionally strong. That image was shattered for me just a few months into the fall. There was a divide, and everyone picked a side to be on, and that’s how it went. It was a minefield of gossip, negativity, and backstabbing; pretty much a hell-hole for a freshman with an attitude, or any decent person for that matter. In all honesty, I was seriously considering transferring by the end of the season. I hadn’t improved at all as far as times went because I’d been distracted by everything going on with the team, and I realized I hated swimming even more than I had in high school. What kept me at Brenau at all was my sorority. When I got the call that Nate would be our new coach, I was as excited as I was nervous. This new coach would either make my life much better or much worse, and there would be no way to build any form of team unity without a good coach. When I met coach Nate and had my first pre-season meeting with him, it was as if a new air of tentative positivity had arisen, and for once I felt comfortable with imagining a better team for the new year, because I finally saw it as a possibility.

I remember the first team meeting we had with Nate. He gave us some basic info about where he was from, his family, etc. What stuck with me was when he started talking about what kind of team he wanted us to be. Myself and others who’d been particularly downtrodden from the year before listened in anticipation. He told us that this was our team. He was not the leader, he was just the coach. If we wanted to do something, it was our job to take the initiative. As he gave us this unheard-of coaching philosophy, it didn’t sink in for me quite yet what this foundation would do for us in the coming months. Once it had sunk in later on, I became extremely awe-begotten that this man could just come in to a program and change my life within a matter of weeks. Just with handing over the reigns to us instead of leading us himself, he changed the dynamic from destructive to something positive and new. It brought out the leaders in my teammates, it forced us to work together and communicate, and it fostered an all-around better atmosphere. The dynamic of leading ourselves made it imperative for us to depend on each other, and that was something we desperately needed.

Coach Rhodes has been as beneficial for the team as he has been to me personally. Pretty much all of my coaches have given up on trying to figure out what works for me. I’ve always had trouble controlling my attitude because I find it extremely difficult to be inferior to someone I don’t respect or see as someone who has my best interests in mind. Because of this, I’ve been given up on, more than once. Nate is the coach who brought me back. He tried something unique to me; he spoke to and listened to me as an adult. He never made me feel like less of a person just because he was the coach and I was the swimmer. He’s always heard me out, and that’s something I only realized this year has never been done by a coach of mine. What I say or think is important to him, and that’s something extremely valuable to me. Being taken seriously is one of the most important things a coach can do for a swimmer, and he’s done it. At the same time, he doesn’t take sides or play favorites. He holds everyone to the same standard of behavior, something small but also crucial for team unity. He makes me want to swim harder and be a better person.

He doesn’t always have it together as far as organization goes, and he can be frustrating, but then again, so can we all. At worst, he’s boneheaded, but at best, he’s calm and carefree. His attitude forces us to lead and encourage ourselves, and it’s been pretty successful. Today I walk into practice and see each one of my teammates as a friend, not someone to compete with or gossip about. Today my team is an environment of positivity and laughter and support; it’s the team I wanted last year. I had to wait for it, but now that it’s here, I’m actually scared to let it go when I graduate. This is what people want when they decide to do a sport in college, other than a scholarship. I wanted a group of girls who would lift me up and encourage me every day and who would inspire me to be a better person. It was there before, but not in the open. When Nate gave us our team back, it brought out the best in all of us, and it’s been so beautiful.

I want to take this opportunity to thank my teammates for being so incredible, and especially Coach Nate for helping us get to a point of team unity that we can be proud of. I’ve never felt as motivated to push myself both with swimming and with my character as I do this year. Nate has challenged my character to the point where I’m sure I’m a better person now than I was eight months ago, and you can’t replace that. He’s done so much for me just since August both as a coach and a mentor, and having him as my coach for the last chapter of my swimming career will be an amazing finish to a rocky sixteen years.

Happy off-season to my fellow teammates!