With past accomplishments imbuing swimmers with a sense of pride, accomplishment, and motivation, Girls Varsity Swimming is focusing its efforts on repeating the success of last season.
Last year, the team had one of its strongest seasons in recent history, winning the Founders League Championship in February. Head Coach Michelle Repass believes maintaining the same [mindset] as last year will be a driving force going forward.
By starting the season off with a positive outlook and reaching for success through determination and hard work, team members are confident they will have the strength they need coming into the first few meets of the season. Coach Repass said, “There’s so much positive energy on the pool deck right now. This can go a long way in translating [their skills] to the pool. I’m most interested in using this energy and working to help swimmers realize the impact of their positivity and the effects it has in the pool.”
However, Girls Varsity Swimming faces the challenge of a small roster. This season, other than co-captains Jillian Cudney ’20, Elise Nam ’20, and Caroline Zhang ’20, the team has only six returning swimmers on a roster of 16.
On the other hand, the small roster has provided the opportunity to create a strong team culture and close dynamic in and out of the pool. Zhang said, “A lot of our team culture is fostered [by] everyone pursuing their own goals together. One of our goals for this season is to bring the team closer together, especially because it’s a small team this year. Although swimming is a fairly individual sport, at meets, everyone gets super-excited and supports each other the whole time along the edges of the pool.”
Coach Repass, who swam competitively for more than 17 years, said, “You have to be disciplined in sticking with good habits in order to really cement them. It requires stroke after stroke, and lap after lap. It takes a lot of practice, but the idea is that [those habits will be] there for you when you need them without even having to think.”
In its first meet of the season, the team fell 83-98 to Miss Porter’s. Though the loss was disappointing, the team lost by a much larger margin to the same team last season, falling 76-107 in their 2018 season opener.
Girls Varsity Swimming will have its second meet on Saturday, January 18 away against Hopkins.