The championship part of the season is here, yet the season seems hardly
half over.  This is by far the most exciting time of the year, while at
the same time it is the most overall taxing...emotionally, mentally, and
physically. All of the hours we've spent pouring our hearts and passion
into reaching the next level now has the opportunity to shine through
our performances at Conference and NCAAs.  
 
We wrapped up the duel meet part of the season in style with wins at FSU
in a tri-meet that also included Texas A&M. It was an exciting meet,
with many lifetime and season best performances on both our men and
womens teams. It was a bitter-sweet moment for my senior class, as it
was the last time we would be competing for Auburn at that level, but
most importantly we are very pleased with the way we capped off the
meet. Now it is time to focus even more on our goals for the rest of the
season. Our goals this season have pertained primarily to the coming
championship weeks and the preparation we have done so far has been
solid. It is important to get sharp in the water and really maintain and
sharpen our focus on what we want to accomplish.

This weekend, we host an event in correlation with Swim Across America
to honor our amazing coach. As you may have read in my previous posts,
Richard Quick was diagnosed with cancer days before Christmas. Here is
the link for with more information if anyone is interested in finding
out more or donating
(http://www.swimacrossamerica.org/Page.aspx?pid=604).

Next week, Auburn is hosting our Conference meet for the first time in
my 4 years here and we are really excited about the opportunity.  Most
people in the SEC will agree that the energy at our conference meet tops
that of NCAAs.  It is the last time that the men and women get to
compete together at the same meet and the energy created by this
commitment for each team to succeed is overwhelming (plus SEC fans are
crazy). 

As far as an outlook for the coming weeks, we are ready to go.  We've
lost a couple meets this year--some pretty close ones and some that
should have been a lot closer.  But I truly feel that each loss has
taught us something about the makeup of our team and our willingness to
keep fighting, no matter the circumstance.  Resiliency will help us
overcome any obstacle that is thrown in our way.   As a popular saying
goes, we may lose a couple battles, but we will win the war.  

In closing, I want to share with you a poem that my coach gave me when I
was younger but one that I've kept alive in everything I do.  Never let
go of what you believe and dream, and never ever give up.
War Eagle!!
Emile
Mark 9:23