I went through various sports and teams before I landed with you. In the years I spent with you coaching me I learned a lot about myself, mental toughness and pushing limits. This is a thank you for everything you've ever done for me.

Thank you for taking a chance and believing in me.

When I joined the team, I was not good... at all. I had no technique or speed, but I had passion and desire. I had a fire in my heart to be great in this sport. You saw the passion and desire that I had; you saw the potential that I had inside, and you took a chance on me. You believed in me, even when I didn't believe in myself. You believed in me every step of the way from first meets to first times of swimming a new event. You saw the potential leadership in me and let me have a chance to grow those skills. You took all the chances on me and believed in me when no one else did.

Thank you for all the memories, the good and the bad.

I never knew I could be thankful for bad memories until I realized that they helped me become stronger. I remember all the bad sets and practices, the ones where I feel like I'm dying and the ones where something is off and just not clicking with me - what I should be doing versus what I actually am doing. Those practices, the sets that you created, stay with me everyday because they made me mentally tougher than I was before. I have the memories of seeing you coach me through a race on the side of the pool, waving the heat sheets around in the air telling me what to do. I guess now is a bad time to tell you that I don't know what the signals you waved around mean, and I just winged it when I saw you trying to tell me to do something specific. I hold the memories of fun practices in my head - the ones with the fun relays that were absolutely pointless to our training, going down the water slide, and all the games of water polo that I always almost drowned during. The fun memories are something that I always look back on and say, "I miss those days. I miss playing water polo and goofing off during fun practice days". Even with the crazy insanities we had to do and the sets that made me want to quit swimming, you created memories that made me mentally stronger but also make me look back and smile.

Thank you for always including me.

Some days I would go to practices that the rest of my group didn't go to and be the only one there from my group. You always let me join the workouts and struggle through them, but you still encouraged me and pushed me through them. I was invited to tag along for meals in between prelims and finals for meets or adventures at the mall in between practices even though I didn't always swim with the group that I was being invited to be with. Nevertheless, I was always included.

Thank you for teaching me valuable lessons.

One day before a meet you told me to race for myself, not my parents, not you, not the other coaches and parents - myself. I've carried that with me to this day. I use it in my everyday life, in everything I do. With all the choices I make and the things that I do, I tell myself that I'm doing it all for me and no one else. Everything I do is always for me and my best interest because that's what you taught me.

Thank you for putting your trust and faith in me.

You trusted me enough to be a leader of a group. You trusted me to teach kids how to swim and made me a coach for a summer. You helped create leadership skills that I now use in my everyday life. You trusted me that I could always do my best in a race and put faith in me when I swam events for the first time or when I was trying to drop time. I always had someone behind me who trusted me and had faith in me

Thank you for letting me make you proud.

I hadn't spent much time with you when you started sharing how much potential I had, how good you thought I was, and how much better you thought I was going to become. You always filled me with confidence... most of the time, and you always believed in me. You watched me blossom into the swimmer and person I am today. You watched me become a leader and even acknowledged that growth. You watched me graduate and set off on a new adventure, but you told me you were proud of me one day. I had never had my coaches tell me they were proud of me... ever, and to have you say you were proud of me and everything I have done meant so much to me. I had the opportunity to make you proud, and I did it. I made you proud.

After spending countless hours on the deck with you coaching me through everything, I realized the impact you have made on my life. You helped make me physically and mentally stronger, a leader, someone who's trustworthy and someone you can always put faith in to do anything. You took the small and meek girl who could barely swim and made her a confident leader and well-rounded person who can do anything she puts her mind to. So, thank you for everything you've done for me, on and off the deck. Thank you for saying I can always come to you if I need anything and saying you're proud of me. This is your well deserved thank you. Thank you for impacting my life in more ways than one and helping to make me a better person.