In a message to East Rockingham Principal Eric Baylor, ERHS Swim Coach Debbie Coles recounts her team’s first swim meet experiences:
“I wanted to let you know that our first meet went well. All of our swimmers did an amazing job in the water, but it was what they did OUT of the water that got a lot of attention. They cheered for the swimmers on the opposing team during each event. During one event, an opposing swimmer was lagging behind. His own team was not even paying attention but the ERHS team stood at the side of the pool cheering him on the entire way to the finish. When he reached the wall, our side of the pool exploded in applause. Our swimmers were not told to do this – they did it on their own. Several people stopped Coach [Becky] Hess and me and commented on our sportsmanship. One man said that in his child’s four years of swimming for Clarke County, he had never seen such sportsmanship from another team. After the meet, we stopped in McDonalds and many of the Clarke County swimmers and parents were dining there and approached us to thank us for cheering for them and being so nice. Coach Hess and I are so proud of this team!!
As for the score – they beat us, but not by much. We are a team of only 12 swimmers – only 11 participated in this meet – but the final score was 177 – 107. Clarke County’s team is a least three times the size of ours. We have a talented bunch of swimmers for sure!”
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