Lessons from Two Trees

What the two Maple trees I saw while walking my dogs reminded me last night:
🍁 Comparison is the thief of joy
🍁 Change happens when we're ready
🍁 We grow at different rates
🍁 Change can be beautiful
🍁 Remember to slow down and enjoy the journey

As I looked at the trees, one still full of color and the other already bare, I couldn’t help but think about our swimmers. Some are in a season of bright progress where everything seems to click. Others are quietly preparing for what’s next, doing the hard work that doesn’t always show right away. Some have just aged up to a new group, with tougher time standards and new expectations, and are learning to find their footing again. All are growing, all are changing, all are right where they need to be.

It’s also a reminder that swimmers come in all shapes, sizes, and stages, even when they’re the same age. Growth and body changes can affect everything from technique to times, and those differences can be hard for swimmers to understand or accept. But just like the trees, each swimmer’s journey unfolds in its own season.

Swimming, like the seasons, is full of cycles. Times, strokes, and skills will ebb and flow, but what matters most is staying rooted, showing up, putting in the work, and trusting that growth comes in its own time and in its own way. Swimming, like nature, isn’t meant to be rushed or compared. The leaves don’t worry about when the other tree changes, they simply do when it’s time. Our swimmers grow, change, and find their strength in the same way.

🍁 Keep showing up. Keep growing. 🍁

Coach Jessica