ROC PHILOSOPHY

The value of sport…

The value of amateur sport to the development of young people in our community is very important.
Not only does the healthy lifestyle promoted through sport result in healthier living and healthier
adults, but a lot of the characteristics developed in elite amateur athletes are those that are needed
to be successful within the community. Self-discipline, commitment to goals and the pursuit of
excellence are the shared characteristics between athletes and successful entrepreneurs,
businesspeople and community leaders.

Why swimming?

* Swimmers score the highest on their high school fitness tests
* Swimmers are organized – when you are training anywhere from 12 to 20 hours a week you have to be.
* Swimmers do well at school. They have good time management skills and a
desire to succeed. If you want something done well… give the task to a swimmer.
* Swimmers understand the value of teamwork. No one swimmer does it alone, they need the support of their family, their coaches and teammates, and their community
* in order to be successful. And they learn that they, in turn, must make positive contributions to their family, team and community.
* They develop the attitude that goals are achievable, but they also understand that falling short of a lofty goal is more valuable than setting your sights too low.
* When you know someone is a competitive swimmer it tells you a lot about who he or she is, and what their capabilities are.

And perhaps most importantly, swimmers establish these personality traits as a young person within
our community. When their peers are busy at the mall or in front of the computer these young people
are setting goals and working very hard to achieve them. That value of that type of life lesson does
not disappear when a swimmer leaves the sport to pursue other interests and activities.

A note about ROC and racing from Head Coach, Karen Hillis

You should see the look of confusion I get from a swimmer when I tell that I don’t care whether they
win, but I do care very much how well they race… “Huh?? Coach has lost it?” they’ll think to them-
selves … ”Isn’t the purpose of a race to determine a winner? If you’re second, you’re first in a long
line of losers after all. ” After we’ve worked together for a while they begin to understand. You
can’t control the skill, talent, attitude and preparation of the athlete beside you… but you can
control your own. I wouldn’t want to be up against one of our swimmers in a close race, because
we generally win the close ones. If you have 2 swimmers on the blocks with equal times and one
is wearing a ROC cap – 8 times out of 10 we’ll win. Why is that? – Because we know how to race.
When you know how to race, when you can get excited about the race – that’s when the fun
begins and that’s when the performances start to happen. And it doesn’t matter if you’re in the first
heat, the middle of the pack, the consolation final or the final. It doesn’t matter whether it’s
Olympic Trials or the Collingwood Outdoor Invitational, whether it’s the 5th race of the day or
your 1st. You stand up on the blocks and you RACE – you lay it all on the line, you lay bare your
soul and yourself, you push through pain and fatigue, you win the close ones, you try your
hardest, you’re content with the consequences because you know you gave it your all – and you
learn a lot about yourself.

Racing, isn’t everything … it’s the only thing.
Racing is what we do.
RACERS is who we are.