The new swim season is approaching and with key players gone like Rachel Allshouse and Ben Martino the team will have to condition harder to try and imitate their successful seaso n they both had last year.

With a lot more people joining the swim team this year compared to the last year, the team is ready for a great season. Swim and Dive performs many different things to make the bond as a team stronger.

When asked about the upcoming swim season and what the swim and divers goals are, sophomore Lennon Wuhrer said, “I hope to drop my time. I will achieve this by working hard and working on kicking faster. I went to districts last year and I hope to do that again and maybe even go further. As a team, I hope to win a couple of meets and I know some gifted individuals on our team who can make it to states.”

While still having some of the Martino legacy  at AHS we asked senior Gabe Martino on the season to come.

“I plan to go to states again with my relay squad through hard work and years of practice with the team.” Martino said. “Hopefully our team does well enough to make districts to move some people on through regionals and states. I feel confident some members of our team will make it to states.”

Members of the Swim team, such as senior Aaron Boyd, has set many goals for the upcoming season whether it be trying to hit their personal record times or just being better for the teams sake.

“I hope to get top three at states, which is not going to be an easy task, or even higher, in the 100 freestyle or the 50 freestyle. It will not be easy for me to reach this goal without putting in the work I need, so I will continue to lift almost on a daily basis and stay in shape mentally and physically for the season.” Boyd said.

But when asked about how far they want to go as a team he said, “I want the boys and girls teams to win at least two meets in our conference, which can be done, and send two relays to regionals and states.”

While the goals that Boyd set for his team are achievable he also believes that the girls will need to work hard to reach to those two meet wins.

“We have a tough conference, with Lake Braddock and Soco, but I think we as a team can improve from last year by putting in all of our effort instead of just half.”

Senior Ashley Britton feels that although the team is not as large as it could be, they still can do well.

“We have another small team this year, but with density. We are still striving to get some swimmers into Regionals and States as we did last year. As a team we need to go into each meet with a fresh start and solid mindset. If each swimmer individually shaves off time consistently throughout the season, we should be in good shape.”

The Swim and Dive team feels confident in how they will do during meets this year and their performance. Both the coaches and the team are much more involved in the season this year than last year.

“The coaches have a big impact on how we swim at our meet. Whether it be the motivation they bring when we have a meet or thr laughter they give to the team, they play a big role in our swimming performance. The coahces also give us a better enviornment and only give us construtive criticism instead of yelling at us,” Boyd said.

With this being the last year for the eniors they are working hard and trying to ge tto the goals set by themselves. But with the hard work and integrity of the team they can fulfill the seniors spots from last year.