by Mr. Feeny
The achievement of a particular milestone is often the manner by which we measure ourselves in life.
Milestones are important, because they tell us both how much of
ourselves that we've dedicated to a particular endeavor and how much time, in addition to the degree of success that we've achieved. In a society such as ours, in which so many things are driven by our passion for sports, we hear about athletes' achieving various milestones all the time, most often at the professional level.In the case of our community, we should take a moment to note and salute head swimming coach Dave Hanson, who with last night's 75-19 decision over LaSalle, racked up his 300th career win at Hendricken, which is a testament to his dedication to the school, our students, and his ability to motivate and teach. He has been a steady presence for more than twenty years here at our school, and in tallying 23 consecutive state championships, has managed to consistently keep our swimming team on top of both the Rhode Island and national charts. The number of our swimmers who move on to compete at some of the best colleges and the best programs will continue to be the lasting testament to his success. The Providence Journal notes Coach Hanson's accomplishment here.
Here's a clip from the end of last season, an interview with swimmers Andrew Robinson and Alex Powers after our guys had captured yet another state crown:
While as a sports-crazed society we tend to worship at the altar of the big four - football, basketball, baseball, and hockey - it is worth our time to stand and applaud Coach Hanson and all his swimmers from the past two decades for achieving yet another milestone and for a job well done.
