"The people who know us the best, who know our commendable traits as well as our weaknesses, are often the people who make the most impact on our lives. They are the people who push you to your limits, only to make you better. Who understand how you function, and know how to work with you. They are the people who know when something is wrong, just by how you walk in the door. They are the people who are there for you when you are at the top of the roller-coaster called life, and they are also the people who are there for you when that roller-coaster is nearing the ground. Throughout the years they are slowly impacting our lives, and helping to shape and mold us into the people who we are today. For me, that person is my eight-year swim coach, Coach Dennis Gagne.
Throughout the past eight years with Coach Dennis as my coach, I have grown exceptionally close to him and am even accustomed to calling him "Daddy Dennis". We tease each other like family, and he sure does love to make fun of me, but I know when it counts he will always be there for me. He guides out of love, and is always willing to be an ear to listen when the times are tough.
I started swimming under Coach Dennis when I was nine years old. I remember the first months of practice being brutal, not because the work-out was exceptionally hard, but because I was a quiet and shy little girl who did not fit in with the rest of the team who all seemed very loud and self confident. I was new to the club-swimming idea, and I knew that I was the new-girl. I let all of my teammates believe that of me too, and took a subordinate role to them, which lead to feeling left out and awkward during practices. Coach Dennis would tell me every day that all I had to do was be who I was and let my personality show, and that is all it would take to fit in with the rest of the team. It took quite a while for what he was telling me to sink in. After swimming for Coach Dennis for a few years, it finally made sense to me. I did not have to put on a face or a different personality for my teammates, or my friends for that matter. If I was just myself, the bubbly, fun-loving girl who I always had been, that is all I needed to be to fit in. Just be myself. And wow, once I figured that out it seemed as if everything fell into place. I went into middle school with a new attitude, and fit-in with my teammates for the first time since I joined club-swimming. Even now, eight years after this started, I can honestly say that Coach Dennis imposed that aspect into me that I now live my life by. Just be who you really are, and people will love you for that.
In the summer before my freshman year of high school, I was debating quitting swimming for good. I had been swimming for ten years at that point, and was pretty tired of the sport. I was not sure that I wanted to spend six hours a day at the pool during high school, and did not see what there was for me to gain by sticking with the sport. Numerous times I recall Coach Dennis sitting me down and explaining to me the pros and cons of swimming in high school, and after taking a couple weeks off I realized that I would not be the same person if I quit the sport. Coach Dennis helped me to realize that even though swimming itself may become time-consuming and mundane, the relationships made and experiences gained with my teammates and swimming family outweigh the possible benefits of quitting swimming. That decision that Coach Dennis was a part of decided how I would spend the next four years of high school, who would become my friends, how I would spend my weekends and ultimately who I would evolve into. Since I now spend up to thirty-five hours a week at the pool, I am not involved in partying, or the stereotypical high school scene because I know what will happen if I take my focus away from what I work so hard for: being the best swimmer that I can possibly be. I am not sure who I would have become if I had quit swimming before freshman year, but I unambiguously would not be the same person I am today.
This past semester I had a friend of mine pass away after an accident. I was emotionally a mess, and was having a challenging time getting through each day. I would show up to practice and Coach Dennis would know that I was upset just by how I would walk through the entrance to the pool. He was the only one who would momentarily stop the tears and the teenage emotions for the few hours I spent at the pool. I would pull myself out of the water after two hours of working out, and he would wrap me in a hug, promising me that it would get easier and that life would start to look up again soon. I would always leave practice feeling better than when I arrived, knowing that it was Coach Dennis' caring nature and genuine love that made all the difference.
A coach is someone who helps bring out the best athlete in you during those few hours that you spend together. Coach Dennis is more than a coach to me though. Not only has he coached me through the swim practices, he has coached me through life, making an impact on me every chance he gets. He has been there for me when everything is smooth-sailing, and he has been there when my life seems to be crumbling apart in my hands. I can think back to the nine year old girl I was when I met him and compare that girl to who I am now, and know that I am who I am in part because of the daily impact that Coach Dennis has made in my life over the past eight years."
I love you Coach Denny!!!
1 comment:
ohmygosh kylie this is amazing! i started tearing up reading it :)you are such an amazing girl and I am so proud to call you my friend :)
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