It's very exciting. The boys are excited. They got pumped up. It was excellent.

The kids are already looking forward to next year. They're talking about swim camp and how they'll be better prepared for next season. They're very excited.

I have to carry my best times sheet with me all the time. After every event the kids are asking me if I they had beaten their best time, so I have to be ready. And most of the time they are beating their previous best.

I'm hoping Mario will qualify at the league meet.

We were able to use our divers in swimming events and it turned out each of them can help us as swimmers, so we're not complaining. I told the kids it was disappointing they couldn't dive, but here was another opportunity for them. I also reminded them that they are all sophomores and they have plenty of time to work and get better.

Small boys were a mystery to Sylvie. The satisfaction they gained from throwing sticks or stones for hours on end, the obsessive collection of inanimate objects, the brutal destruction of the fragile world around them, all seemed at odds with the men they were supposed to become.