Good morning, Racquetfish, families, and friends!

Wow... I want to say I'm speechless but we all know that would be a lie because you're in for a long, well deserved message. CONGRATULATIONS EVERYBODY ON OUR FIRST WIN OF THE 2026 SEASON!!!

Me being speechless would come off as me being surprised that we won last night, but I'm not. I know how amazing our swimmers are, how supportive our parents are, and how helpful our volunteers are. I say it time and time again, but this entire operation is ran by parents and volunteers who are there for no other reason than to have a good time, cheer on their friends and family, and to help out. The only ones being paid are us coaches, so please pat yourself on the back for doing a stellar job RSVPing your swimmers, signing up for volunteer jobs, getting them to the meets on time or communicating delays, cleaning up after yourselves at the meets, and constantly taking hours out of your days and nights in order to help us have some summer fun!

Last night meant a lot to me personally, because while I've been apart of this team for the past couple years, that was my first win as a head coach. The same goes for coach Hallsey and coach Freya as well! They've been swimming with us since before I was around, but this year they are official coaches, and while Freya wasn't with us last night, they both helped our swimmers get to where they are today through practices and previous meets! A nice win helps to reassure everybody that we don't just cross our fingers and hope we go faster, or that the other team is having an off day. What we all do genuinely helps these children.

However, winning absolutely is not everything. In fact, I'm sure I've said that sometimes a loss is needed in order to appreciate that next win, and I think last night our swimmers did a pretty good job! The kiddos constantly want to know the score, who's winning, and what's happening, and that makes perfect sense! They want to know that what they're doing matters, that it counts for something, and that they're helping the team. They always somehow hear from the grapevine what's going on, whether it's close, or we're losing, winning, etc. But it motivates them, they know to swim harder, they know where to focus their cheers and energy, and they know they can do this no matter the odds! Allegedly, Banbury Woods was undefeated until last night, and while I don't personally think much of that (as we're only halfway through a six meet season), if it got the kiddos pumped up then I'm all for it! We're all learning humility day by day, the hype may have fueled a little rambunctious behavior at times, but for the most part our swimmers handled everything well and stayed respectful. I appreciate that very much!

Two years ago in 2024, Banbury Woods beat us by 102 points. Last night, we won by 11. Those 11 points are a slim victory in the world of swim, that truly comes down to a couple of placements. As usual, we were missing some swimmers here and there, but we kept the DQs lower than previous meets, everybody locked in and played a part, and we pulled off a respectable feat against a strong, well coached team! Please hold your heads high, you've truly earned it! Let's ride this wave into next week and the weeks beyond!

Again, congratulations Racquetfish! Thank you all so so so much :)

Christian E. Osafo

RRC Head Swim Coach

(661) 540-3057