I can remember it clearly. Everything was new and different. New teammates, new city, new pool and new coaches.

I'm sure many of you can agree being in a new environment can be tough. If you're anything like me, I sit back and read the room and try to figure it out before jumping right in. I was a freshman in college and it was probably the third week of training with my new team. 

I was a walk on and I felt like I had a lot to prove. Up to this point Coach was pretty stoic. He didn't show any emotion. He put a workout up on the board, explained what the focus was and sat back and watched. He would write things down and simply pace up and down the pool deck. I constantly thought about what he was thinking.

Then one day something happened. He came to life. Starting getting vocal and yelling. Deep from his diaphragm he bellowed COME ON LEGS! over and over again. At first I was shocked, then I started laughing, and thought Is he cheering on our legs? 

And that's what he was doing. He was trying to get every one of us to kick harder. That was my first time hearing someone cheer on a body part. I still laugh to this day when I think about Coach yelling COME ON LEGS!

All silliness aside, he was right. Kicking is vital to being a successful swimmer. Kick does two things for us; 1) it makes us go and more importantly 2) keeps us up. Remember the body line? We get added support through our kick. A strong kicker has a strong body line. A strong body line means an efficient swimmer. The water doesn't care that you have a 5k run or a 20 mile bike afterwards. You have to kick. COME ON LEGS!

Ready Go!