Having to face a double-header increases fatigue, and facing that same double-header missing multiple key athletes brings entirely new levels of adversity.
This past weekend, the boys and girls swim team faced Lee HS and West Potomac HS. The boys came out victorious in both, while the girls fell to West Potomac.
“I believe we did really well considering we were down four boys,” senior Daniel Jessen said.
Senior Dylan Gore, who typically helps the team score up to 36 points, was unable to swim Saturday night after visiting the emergency room. As a result, Daniel Jessen had to swim the 200 yard freestyle and 200 yard individual medley back-to-back. Daniel Jessen placed second in both and has also qualified for regionals in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 49.81.
Against Lee, the final score for the boys was 211-98 and for the girls was 192-120.
“At the meet against Lee, a lot of girls came out with best times,” senior Jenny Jessen said. “We had a lot of fun and came out with our first win.”
The boys finished with a score of 174-141 against the Wolverines, while the girls fell short and could only earn 117 points to West Potomac’s 197.
“We knew that West Potomac was going to be an especially tough meet, but we had some divers and relays step up to really help us earn some points,” senior Meghan Lynn said.
Junior Allie Vogus, who qualified for states last season, earned a first place finish Saturday night for the dive team, while also scoring above the regional cut. Vogus is currently undefeated in the district.
After winter break, the Atoms have three regular season meets left, and will have to face both Lake Braddock and West Springfield, two of the most competitive teams in the Patriot District.
“Going into our last three meets of the season, one of our goals is to get at least one of our relays to regionals for both girls and boys, which I believe is highly achievable,” senior Andrew Boyd said.
