The Lady Knights swim team has already made it clear they are back and ready to compete. The team is beyond excited about their next home meet at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 16.

“The amount of improvements we’ve made this year already made is crazy,” junior Kyleigh MacMann said.

Starting the season off on the girls first meet at Pattonville, freshman Joanna Dohrman made state in her 500 metrer freestyle. With a kickoff to the season like that, the girls have motivation to continue to go in the upward path. The meet on Friday is a unique meet, all the races included will be relays. The last race of the night will be a “mystery” race, which the girls all look forward to.

“One of the years, the mystery race was each girl in the relay would put on a t-shirt and swim down and back, then take it off and give it to the next swimmer to wear,” senior Anastasia Medley said.

Aside from all the hype for the upcoming meet, there are some minor conflicts that could take a toll on the performance of the girls.

“I’m worried we won’t have as many girls to compete because a lot of the girls have been getting sick and some are injured,” coach Karen Whittman said.

Due to these circumstances, the girls have been working harder than ever to prepare, in case they would have to swim more races than normally, caused by the shortage of girls competing.

“I’m not that nervous because I’ve been working really hard at practice and think I’m ready to compete for this meet,” senior Rachel Arena said.

Throughout the whole season, this is the meet many girls look forward to. With every event being a relay, the girls get a chance to bound and work together to improve their records.

“This meet has always been one of my favorite, everyone works together and it’s always so exciting to cheer each other on and have fun,” MacMann said.