It was so great to see so many friends and team members at the pool yesterday for the Labor Day party! It is so sad to see the pool close down for the summer! But never fear - Memorial Day 2026 will be upon us faster than you could ever imagine! 

Please take a moment to complete the Summer 2025 NWB Survey. We use this to gain insights to what you all liked, didn't like, and how we can improve for next summer! 

I will be sending a targeted email to those folks that still have ribbons and awards they didn't pick up at the pool. So stay tuned for that. You'll be able to pick them up at my house over the course of this next month or so. 

Thank you again to all the volunteers who week in and week out signed up to help - and did help make every meet, pep rally and social event with the team fun and successful. There are not enough words to thank you. Thanks especially to the social committee for lightening our workload so much every week - truly, thank you! 

We had such bummer weather in the evenings and I know many of the little guys didn't get to swim as much as they wanted - we are hopeful this next summer won't be quite as thundery and wet. We said goodbye to our seniors but also welcomed a slew of teeny adorable dolphins that hopefully will stay on the team for years to come. The dolphin pipeline to greatness is always our goal at NWB. 

Before I close out this email, I have a little story I'd like to share. This past Saturday, I attended the funeral of Martin Young, the eldest of six children in the Young family - who have been members at NWB since 1982. Their youngest child Katherine coached NWB from 2007-2011, some of you with older swimmers may even remember her. As did her big brother Paul - who is my contemporary, in the early aughts - as we grew up and swam/coached/guarded together at the pool. But back to Martin... 

Martin coached in the late 90s for a few years, when I was a young teenager. He coached with Geza Illes - who our coaches award is named after - they were good buddies and even better swimmers. Martin was always a fixture on deck coaching or giving lessons, in the chair and swimming laps. That dude could legit do a no-breath 100 with ease. He was funny, an excellent coach and absolutely LOVED NWB and the swim team. At his funeral, Paul, his youngest brother, delivered the eulogy. I can easily say that at least half of it tracked back to NWB, swimming and his love for the dolphins. There was even an NWB t-shirt on his memory table at the back of the church. 

I'm telling this story because I wanted to share my memories of Martin but also again reiterate how important this team and this pool is to so many families and swimmers. There was a reason that almost a third of the church pews were filled with NWB families at his funeral. There were so many friendly faces around me that I grew up with - whose lives were touched in some way of course by Martin, but also NWB. I have attached a picture of Martin and Geza from when they were younger sitting on the steps of the pool - a familiar spot to everyone reading this. 

To close this out - we hope your fall brings new beginnings, cooler weather, and a countdown until next summer and the NWB season. We will miss you and cherish all the 2025 memories we made together! 

Go DOLPHINS! 

Lauren & Norah