SWIM by Stephanie Trotter
EAT MY
Bubbles RCC Stingrays swim through a fun, fast summer
FLASHES OF BLUE and red crest the water, as a fever of Stingrays warm up. Young, sun-kissed ’Rays share a Sharpie on the pool deck, tattooing teammates’ arms and backs with the battle cry: “Eat My Bubbles!” Their coach, Noah Hensley, is on the deck at Raleigh Country Club in Raleigh, North Carolina, doublechecking heat sheets and relay team lineups. “I’m so glad we’re getting to have meets this year,” confides Hensley, noting that last year’s summer swim season was a washout due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Swimming brings an
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element of fun, competitiveness and lifelong friendships. Those three things brought me into this sport and kept me going for like 20 years. Now I want these kids to do the same.” Hensley grew up swimming just outside Orlando, Florida. He followed his brother onto the team at Florida State University, but transferred to North Carolina State University, where he swam for four years. Now age 24, the butterfly and backstroke specialist assists with coaching NC State’s Wolfpack Elite as well as the Raleigh Country Club Stingrays. “It’s a bit of disparity, coaching very elite athletes and kids just starting the sport,” he says. “I decompress after leaving NC State, then I come here and just have fun.” Summer coaching has taught him plenty about getting from one end of the pool to the other. “You never stop learning when you’re a coach,” says Hensley. “What I learn from a 6-year-old is equally as important as what I learn from a 24-year-old who thinks they know everything.” This is Hensley’s second summer with the Stingrays, working alongside co-head coach Makayla Sargent. Both look to longtime swim parents Jim and Ellen Baker for advice, guidance and support. The Bakers have watched Raleigh Country Club’s
