Thanks, Doc.
We note with sadness that Crozet Gator swim team coach Doc Remaly will soon move to Boulder, Colorado, for the sake of being near family.
The Remaly Era has been great for Crozet. In his dry and candid way he told the kids how to get better at swimming. And they believed in him because it worked and they got better. Remaly had a gift for approaching each young swimmer personally and inspiring trust. He made them want to prove they could win a race. And they won more and more.
Under Remaly a good team became a contender for the Jefferson Swim League crown. In recent years it’s been Crozet who has gone into the tournament spoiling to knock off Fairview, the perennial league dynasts. To have victory flit out of our grasp at Doc’s final meet, his ninth, is a bitter lesson in humility. Nonetheless, he showed us we could do it. We have seen the promised land.
The Gators are a phenomenal group of parents and youngsters, a fun and neighborly winning team, and many people deserve credit for that. The teams were that way before Remaly and they’ll be good after he’s gone. But the tone comes from the top, as they say, and Remaly does things the right way. So long as Doc was making the calls, we knew things were going to be honest and classy. Nobody puts more shine on the Crozet name than the Gators do.
Our fond gratitude goes to Doc and his wife Shelley, who has also been a godsend to Crozet, for their signal contributions to our town. We will remember you with pride.
