The focus of this year’s swim team was obvious: team chemistry. This year’s varsity swim team looked to have huge potential this year more than ever. With plenty of new students trying out, the size of the team exploded.
“This year, we have almost doubled our current members joining,” three-year varsity swimmer Riley Jensen said. “So, that’s going to make a huge difference for us. The more swimmers you have, the more points you can get, and the better our team can do.”
This large increase in players has made some of the seniors who will be leaving this year rethink their focus on the team. New people need time to get better, and the seniors focused on building support around the new swimmers, and leaving behind all the advice and help they can give. They pushed to create a positive environment where the new players are encouraged to take their time and work together while they get better.
“I’m a senior and we’ve all talked to each other and we want to focus on team bonding and unity between seniors and freshmen,” three-year senior swimmer Madeline Dustin said. “We’re leaving behind as much as we can to the freshmen so they can keep going strong when we graduate.”
The swim team will have seniors such as Dustin helping with these big changes.
“We’re focused on rebuilding our team atmosphere, and making it a positive experience for everyone,” Dustin said. “We’re just gonna come in to teach everyone the basics and work on getting to know everyone as the season begins. Then, we can focus on speed at the end of the season.”
The GACs and state championship will have much more potential this year too, as with more swimmers on the FHN team, there can be more qualifiers from FHN at those meets.
“I really hope we qualify,” Jensen said. “And if we really put the effort in, we could even get a relay swimmer or a few distance swimmers to qualify too.”