Looking Beyond Wins and Losses

Success in most sports can be easily judged by a look at the team's record. Typically, a season with more wins than losses is considered a success. Yet in summer swimming, local coaches agree that you can't base success solely on the team's record.

 "I try not to focus on the win–loss record as much as I do the percentage of overall time improvements and the number of disqualifications we have," said head coach of the Dale City Frogs, Missy Hayden. "Those statistics are much more important to me than how many points we scored at a meet."

The Old Bridge Breakers head coach, Debby Henry, also agreed that a team's record isn't always indicative of their strength since the make-up of divisions changes every year and meets are not necessarily fairly matched between teams.

"The fact that we had 46 percent time improvement at divisionals was one of the highlights of the season in my mind, even though we came in last," Henry said. "I think many of the teams ended up being significantly stronger than the league expected, which threw off the balance within the divisions."

With tough end-of-season outcomes all around the Woodbridge swimming community, this optimistic attitude kept spirits high. Positivity was also fueled by the fact that despite the down economy, registration numbers for teams were up across the board.

"In just three years we have gone from around 100 swimmers to 170 swimmers," said Veterans Park Marlins treasurer Jessica Wangner. "We used to be a powerhouse swim team in the late '80s, early '90s, but we lost so many of our swimmers after families moved out of the community. Now, the interest in swimming has been renewed and we have an influx of swimmers returning. We are definitely in a rebuilding phase to get swimmers back on the team and competing at our previously high level."

Henry also noted that the number of "out of neighborhood" swimmers in the Old Bridge Breakers club had increased this year, which she felt was due to the fun reputation of her team.

"The morale on our team was very high, and I think that was spurred by the fun activities we participated in as a team," Henry said. "For one of our fundraisers this year we started the idea of 'flocking' your friends and neighbors."

According to Henry, "flocking" is a way to have good fun with your friends and neighbors while raising money for the team.

"You pay to have someone flocked, which means that 50 blue and green flamingos are stuck in their yard with a sign that says 'you've been flocked by the breakers.' Then the person who was flocked can pay to flock someone else," said Henry. "The kids got really into it."

Hayden said her team makes a conscious effort to keep registration costs as low as possible, in order to give as many swimmers as possible the opportunity to be a part of the team.

"We aren't looking to turn a profit here, just enough to pay our coaches and pool fees," Hayden said. "We are all about the families and kids and just want to provide an environment for kids to meet friends, stay fit and learn about hard work and commitment."

Even though the local teams weren't racking up the "W's" this season, the high percentages of improvement and increased registration numbers across the community have rendered the summer a success at the pools.