Just Keep Swimming

The MOHS Girls’ Swim Team has been finding success in unexpected places. Since the start of their season in the beginning of December, the girls have been through many grueling practices with each other. Although though the team hasn’t won a lot of meets, morale is still extremely high and the teammates support each other unremittingly.

The four strokes an athlete can swim at meets are butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. Swimmers have to swim a certain distance of the pool, and race against athletes from other high schools. The times a swimmer gets on his or her races determines their placement in the event, and each placement acquires a certain number of points (first place achieving the most, last place achieving none). Whether a school wins or loses a meet depends on the total score of the combined points student athletes have won.

Gabrielle Blaszczyk, a varsity swimmer, has said that there has been minimal drama between the girls, and that team bonding and friendships take precedence over competitiveness. “We’re always cheering,” she says, “no matter how badly we’re losing or how close the meet is, we’re cheering our hearts out. It truly shows how dedicated we are to each other and the team.” Gabrielle, who has been swimming for ten years, sees each meet as an opportunity to improve on her personal scores and to create memories with her friends. The ability to have fun with each other, while still being dedicated to the sport, is the most important thing for the the girls.

Teamwork and moral support seem to be very prominent in this winter sport, and the athletes are looking forward to the rest of their time together. Their season, which ends in late January, is certainly going to be one that they recall fondly.

#swim