Christmas Present

I am told that on occasion, Christmas presents arrive early, and aren’t given until much later. I wouldn’t know about that, because at the Lane house, whenever a Christmas present arrives at the door, everyone wants to tear it open “right now!” No need for waiting….let’s see what is inside the box.

But for him, this present wasn’t like that.

It arrived on Christmas Eve, but wasn’t fully delivered until just over a week ago. That’s a long time to hold onto a present. But they said, “We wanted to do it this way. He just means so much to us, and this was our way of doing it.”

He has had a very difficult year thus far. He found out in December that there was an inoperable malignant tumor in his brain. To say it was devastating news would be an understatement….for himself, for his family, for his friends, for his team.

And so they wanted to give this one to him.

As stated earlier, it arrived on Christmas Eve…..in 1985. Born in Hawthorn Victoria, Australia. Some said the boy was born with gills. Others said he must have webbed feet. Still others would look at his back to see if there was a fin. But he had none of those…he was just a boy who loved the water.

He decided to earn his college degree from Auburn University, and swim for their perennial championship swim team. And just over a week ago, he gave his coach a belated Christmas present.

Matt Targett, before diving head first into the James C. Martin Aquatic Center’s pool, turned to the sea of orange and blue sitting in the stands. He raised his arms high above his head, which elicited a raucus response from the overflow crowd of Auburn fans who had packed the Aquatic Center to witness the Auburn men’s swim team in the SEC Championship Tournament. What they witness was sheer domination.

Targett backed up his brashness by diving into the pool, and torpedoing to an NCAA-record time in the 400-yard freestyle. And behind his leadership, the Auburn men’s swim team left the rest of the Conference behind capturing their 13th consecutive….that’s right….13th consecutive Southeastern Conference Championship.

And then Targett, speaking on behalf of the entire Auburn men’s swim team said, “We did this for Coach Richard Quick…..our swim coach….who is here today, but has been suffering with a brain tumor. He told us before we swam, to just go out there and finish the job that we started earlier this season before he got sick. Coach Quick is such an integral part of our lives, and we wanted to give this championship to him as a gift. He just means so much to us, and this was our way of doing it.”

The tears couldn’t be held back from Coach Quick’s eyes. And being the great coach that he is, he would take no accolades, but said of his senior leader, “Targett’s great….look at what he did.”

All the boy born on Christmas Eve did was break the SEC record in all seven events in which he competed, and swam the fastest time this year anywhere in the nation in the 100 meter freestyle. And then he was named the SEC Male Swimmer of the Year.

Now Coach Quick and Targett-led Tigers head to College Station Texas for the NCAA championships which begin March 19. Maybe the team has one more present under their swimcap to present Coach Quick. If so, it would be the best present he’s gotten since receiving his tragic health news the week before Christmas, 2008.

WJLaneSR