State champions

My eight-year career as a high school swim parent is over, and it ended on a high note. After Metros, Rockville's boys' team went on to win the Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association (MPSSAA) Class 3A West Region Championship. One week later, they walked into the state final meet at the University of Maryland and walked out as state champions, the first-ever state title for Rockville swimming and the school's first state title in any sport in over 30 years. 

Eight of the boys qualified for the meet, including my son, and those eight boys won three individual events, scored points in every event they swam, and swept the three relays. They took down a dynasty, beating a school that had been expected to win and that had won for the past ten straight years. Eight boys standing together on a podium, crazy swim hair and Rockville hoodies and medals around their necks and huge smiles on their faces, holding the trophy that they worked so hard for. We walked out of the aquatic center high-fiving other Rockville parents, thrilled for our boys. It was a memorable afternoon, a memorable season, and a wonderful eight years.