Editor’s Note: This is the final article in a series by Noblesville Swim Club members Tina Berger and Delaney Radican about the club’s Senior Trip in Knoxville, Tenn.
T: As we end our last day, we look back at the trip as a whole with new eyes. We are grateful for the opportunity and thankful to everyone involved.
D: First off we couldn’t have gotten through this trip without our chaperones who kept us safe, healthy and most of all supported us during the hard sets when we didn’t even want to jump in the water for practices and the meet.
Next we would like to thank the University of Tennessee for hosting us and opening our eyes to a new level of swimming. Their facilities and kindness has amazed us and we all have a new way to look at swimming competitively that we would not have had without your help.
Lastly we would like to thank our coach Aleks Fansler without his help this trip wouldn’t have happened and we are more than thankful for his time. This was Aleks’ first trip alone with no other coaches to help and he couldn’t have planned a better trip for us to train and learn.
Aleks led us on our journey through this trip and kept us all in very high spirits even when we were all exhausted. Throughout the trip, Aleks pushed us to our limits at practices and showed us that we can push through the fatigue. As we near the end of our trip and prepare to depart tomorrow there is an excited yet somber feeling in the air. As excited as we all are to head home and see our families, we all are going to miss the closeness of our team.
Tina and I would like to thank you all for reading and supporting us on our journey throughout this week, we are so thankful to have been able to write this article, and to let our hometown know what we are doing in Knoxville. Without your support, we would not have been able to make it through the trip. Tomorrow, we will take one last look around campus and absorb the beautiful scenery surrounding this beautiful campus. All of us are sad to leave but also ready to sleep in our own beds and be with family. With this last article we leave our thanks to our teammates, coaches, chaperones and readers as we hold onto these memories forever.
The Noblesville Swim Club stands outside the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The club trained at the aquatic center during their Senior Trip. (Photo by Melinda Stephan and Ryan Retz)