Last year, Danielle Sikora, a member of the swim team, had a successful season by going to the state meet for two events. The girls team swam well at Conference, and succeeded in meets when it was especially necessary, like the Ladue meet. Fast-forward to the 2012-2013 season, and the girls are at it again.
With a new season comes new teammates, new goals, and more motivation to succeed. Lily Kanefield, one of the captains and seniors on the team, said, “We lost a lot of good seniors last year so we’re really excited for all these new people to join the team.â€
Sammy Bale, a freshman on the team, said, “Being a freshman is…really fun because we are experiencing what it means to really be a ‘team’ for the first time. On CSP swimming you swam for yourself and your coach. Now we are swimming for a whole group of people that expect us to do well.â€
Bale also said that she likes having the upperclassmen on the team. “One of the captains, Dana, is so nice… She jokes around and just makes the practice really fun.â€
The girls have tough practices, but they also have fun with their hard work. Bale said, “The practices are really fun! We swim all the strokes, working on body position, streamlines and turns, and of course getting faster. We swim short and long distance sets with intervals that are challenging yet do-able! In between sets we still have time to socialize which is also really fun.â€
One of the most memorable moments for Kanefield was joking around with the team and having fun, which brings the team closer together. Kanefield said, “Last year we thought there was going to be a winter pep rally so we made up this whole dance ad we practiced it all the time but we never ended up having the pep rally so it kind of just turned into this fun dance…”
The girls’ hard work, ability to have fun, and coaching staff allow them to strive for another strong season.
“Team goals this year are definitely to have a relay make it to state and to just improve our record as a team,†said Kanefield.With a head coach, Katelyn Long, an assistant coach, David Kohmetscher, and an assistant dive coach, Hilarie Wilson, the girls are absolutely prepared.
The coaches are a huge part of the team’s sucess. Kanfield said, “Our coaches are super experienced and have great advice for all of us on how to individually improve. They work us hard but they also teach us how important being a team is.â€Bale said, “The coaches are really understanding of the fact that there are so many different levels of swimmers all swimming at the same time. When sets are way too fast, they are willing to slow it down a little bit. Even if they make it easier they still expect us to do our best and they cheer us on when we do well.â€
Bale and Kanefield both agree on the benifits of swimming. “…swimming is really hard and it’s a lot of work but all the things we do help us become the swimmers we are, so I wouldn’t change anything,†Kanefield said.“…although swimming is hard work, we have a ton of fun. You get to know a lot of upperclassmen and get to improve your times. So although sometimes practices suck, the reward makes it all worth it,†Bale said.
