The team as a whole has won both the trophies at the conference relay meet at Stillwater Junior High School, the Bengal invite, and the Apple Valley invite, but they still have a while to go. The events include both solo events as well as relays that involve multiple swimmers. With the season ending in early March the SAHS swim team still has a while to go before they are done with their season.

In swimming, as well as in all sports, before the meet can be very stressful. A lot of things have to go right for a swimmer to make it to the edge of the pool, and even more for that swimmer to triumph over the other competitors. The swim team has a lot to worry about, especially when the race can be won or lost at the starting block.

Senior Tom Windett, one of the captains of the swim team, said, “A million things rush through my head. My biggest fear is probably disqualifying on the start, because if you flinch just a tiny bit before the official starts the buzzer, you can get disqualified and the whole race is pointless.”

Windett said, “Mr. Luke is a tough coach. Our workouts include at least 5,000 yards of swimming a day. It’s insane, but the workouts help because we are in better shape than most other teams, and we win a lot of meets making the hard training worth it.”

The team itself must be given credit as well, because a good coach is nothing without a team willing to put in the effort to practice and push themselves to win. They always try to keep each other ready for the upcoming meet during practice and get each other pumped up before and during each race.

Senior Spencer Roll said, “We are a pretty tight knit team. We always stand when there’s one of ours in the water, and a lot of the time we stand at the end of the pool and cheer for our teammates.”

With a coach that expects hard work and a team willing to push themselves to improve their times and their physical strength, the boys’ swim team is gearing up for success this season.