Saturday I had the honor of serving as the honorary coach for VT's swimming beat down of Penn State. I was the winning bidder in the auction for women's sports through the Athletic Center. What a day!

Obviously we have a roster full of talented swimmers. That trend has been growing for years now. But what I observed was a team of coaches that are knowledgeable and leave no small details out. During the warm up times I witnessed each coach, and I believe we have maybe 5 young assistants, working individually with specific swimmers on technique and timing. Their inter workings with the swimmers as well as other coaches reminded me of the reports we read on TSL about the other sport teams and their coaches. These coaches have been all americans at other schools and bring loads of experience and expertise to our program.

Currently our two teams are ranked #5 and #6 in the nation. Here we often discuss which VT team will win that first national championship. I don't recall swimming being thrown into the conversation. I think it's time to change that tune!

Finally the head coach, Ned Skinner, is starting his 19th season in Blacksburg and he is a spin off in the Frank Beamer mold. He gave a few motivating comments to kick off the meet to the team and after the meet reminded them to look out for each other. He said something like "I realize you are all college age athletes but..."

Interesting note about their "walk up" to the meet, as they refer to it. There is a brick size piece of Hokie Stone placed on a waist level table. Every swimmer touches the rock before entering the pool area. Naturally their walk is to the blaring sounds of Enter Sandman over the public address system.

There is a strong group of parents and family that attend the meets but there is plenty of room for more. Admission is free so you can't beat that. I encourage everyone to check out a meet, all in the Christiansburg Aquatics Center, if you get the chance.