Friday Night at the Races Series Resounding Success

Friday Night at the Races Series Resounding Success
December 16, 2023

Have you ever danced to YMCA with 200 friends?  Have you ever been in a cheering (screaming?!) match with your parents?  Well, many of us can certainly say we have now!  Friday Night at the Races had swimmers and parents dancing on their feet, diving into the pool, and jumping for high fives. It was loud at the pool, and everyone walked away with huge smiles, awards in their pockets, and having (re)found their love of swimming! 

Not familiar with Friday Night at the Races? 

Coach Heather and Coach Andrea spend quite a bit of time on deck at swim meets and got to talking about days long past, how they started swimming, and how they got hooked.  The conversation shifted to how that same passion could be fostered in our athletes today, and so Friday Night at the Races began.  With coaches teaming up to organize and by enlisting some VERY energetic teenagers, the series took off. 

The art of competitive swimming is of course about racing and that was part of it.  Going hand in hand with that, they wanted swimmers to learn how to enjoy winning, lose with a growth mindset, learn from each success and failure, and do it all with teammates cheering them on.  With the Friday Night at the Races series, swimmers were supported with the development of all of these things.  And it wasn’t just their coaches there to guide them!  Swimming is a lifelong sport, and many of the “big kids” came out to guide, cheer, and remember why they themselves fell in love with the sport in the first place.

This past Friday was the last in our inaugural Friday Night at the Races series.  Thank you to everyone who made the series such a resounding success for our grassroots swimmers.  We can’t wait to do it again next year!