"The team culture at EMU is truly something special!! Starting with Derek, the attitude for the team is expecting to win. This team is full of girls that like to have fun but at the end of the day all share the common goal of wanting to improve and excel at the sport they love. "

"Derek Perkins is a generally new head coach, recently completing his third year at Eastern Michigan University, with many years of coaching under his belt. This leads to an informed coach, who knows not only the sport inside and out but also exemplifies extensive knowledge of stroke technique and training programs. He creates detail-oriented and personalized weekly training programs for each swimmer that rotate periodically throughout the season, and is always open to hear swimmers' opinions on how they feel their training is going. Derek is approachable, fun-loving, and passionate about his team's success. Even when dealt challenges, Derek continues to show his swimmers the bright side of every situation or even create the bright side himself. As a new head coach, there are some skills Derek puts effort into such as developing a team atmosphere (which the girls on the team do a seriously amazing job of themselves!), fairness, organization, and valuing academics over athletics that may require more years of head coaching experience to fully evolve. Following after the head coach, the team atmosphere is fun-loving as well, and supportive to a tee. The girls on this team rely on one another in and out of the pool, and have a close-knit family bond amongst one another. They strive to hold each other accountable for their actions, and communicate through issues. They expect one another to put in 110% to each and every workout, to foster not only their own success but their teammates' as well. A fond memory held from being apart of this team is when during a training trip practice Derek had promised the team after a very challenging morning practice that he would go head-to-head against the team's best backstroker in a 50 underwater that evening. Derek strolled out of the locker room in picture-perfect Dad-length swim trunks, and pleaded with the swimmers that he be allowed to wear fins for a fair race. The deal was made that if he lost the race, evening practice would be finished. Not only did he lose, but a Florida thunderstorm quickly approached, making the evening practice just as well finished. The entire team huddled together in the pouring rain, smiles beaming all around, and chanted the EMU fight song. "