Their holiday training was phenomenal. They all worked hard on all of the hard intervals. That's when we knew they were willing to work to get better.

We've worked so hard this season and the chemistry on the team has been phenomenal. Everyone plays really well with each other. This was our goal and it feels so good to finally reach it.

At the start of this season, we asked the kids if they wanted to swim as Royal Oak, or if they wanted to be known as the Ravens. They preferred to be Royal Oak for one more season.

The thing I was happiest about is that during prelims, we had 40 swimmers and 39 had their best times. Tonight, most of the swimmers improved their times again. Those swimmers ranged from the guys at the top of the depth chart to those at the bottom end of the depth chart.

Nick had a breakthrough year for us. I feel that he may have even surprised himself with how much he improved. Having state meet experience as a junior will allow him to do big things next year at the state meet.

My expectations for this year are to work hard, swim fast, and be in the hunt for the league championship.