This year, six new swimmers joined the FHN girls swim and dive team. Training every day in the water and on land, the girls have been working hard to prepare for GAC’s. The nerves and excitement headed into the season along with hard work helped the girls PR as the season progressed.

“Since the season has started we have seen a lot of improvement, not just in times but also we have gotten a lot closer since the beginning of the season,” returning sophomore swimmer Michaela Manfull said. 

One swimmer in particular that stands out to Manfull is sophomore Madeline Dustin. Along with swim, Dustin was also on the varsity cross country and track team this past season. 

“Madeline Dustin is one of our new swimmers and she is really good,” Manfull said. “She just joined a team this summer to prepare. She does a lot of running, so she’s definitely comfortable with how you have to breathe in the water.”

With a fairly young team this year, only two seniors and five juniors, the rest of the team consists of underclassmen. The team has a whole set a lot of goals for themselves for the season.

“Give North a good name, give themselves a good name and have fun,” assistant coach Rowan Pugh said. “Those are my goals for any season, any sport that I coach, any progress or PR or state qualifications that we get, that’s just a bonus that makes it all better because those humans are so deserving of that.”

As the coaches set goals for the season and the team, the team also set goals for themselves to help each other. As there were lots of new swimmers to the sport, communication and asking questions was key. 

“My team has taught me to put in 100% every race and practice and to try my hardest,” new swimmer Madeline Dustin said.

The team chemistry has been another important part of the season. The team got to know each other through team bondings which helped the team connect.  

“Our team has got closer this season through all the late night practices and long swim meets. We all get along and it’s made this season one of the best,” Dustin said.