Credit to Nate Carney

Scott Braswell speaks with the boys varsity swim and dive before a tri-meet on Sept. 18.

This season, the FHN swim team has taken a step in a new direction. With the departure of head coach Shawn Farrar, the team is under new leadership under coaches Scott Braswell and assistant coach Nick Kuper. Braswell has coached swimming for 25 years, with 17 years at the high school level. According to senior Lucas Hanson, the arrival of Braswell has established a different dynamic within the team.

“He made a strong impression,” Hanson said. “He sat us all aside on the very first practice and outlined exactly what we needed to do. I like that clarity from him.”

With the new coaching change this season, Braswell believed that the team had endless potential and wanted them to go all in, putting in maximum effort and maximizing the time they had at practice.

“The team had a lot of potential. It is a small team. It is building,” Braswell said. “We had some great senior leadership, but we also had some very talented freshmen and sophomores this year. It’s just [the team] understanding what it takes to become a championship team and also to have individual success. It’s consistency, being here every night, making sure they’re putting in the work.”

With these changes, the team quickly found great results within Braswell’s coaching philosophy this season. Evin Gamage, a sophomore, has seen the results personally and has good confidence in the team.

“We got sixth in the Fort Zumwalt Jaguar invitational,” Gamage said. “We had a great opportunity to take some relays to state, specifically the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay.”

However, the focus wasn’t just on performance in the water this season. Braswell also allowed the team to bond together and understand the importance of having enjoyment within the swim team.

“I feel like there was definitely more team bonding that was going on this season. We’ve gone out to eat after meets, and we planned to work in some other team events,” Hanson said. “I feel like with the new coach, they are more lenient and that helps establish a better dynamic.”

With the swim team already having many successes this season, with Braswell in his first season at North, Braswell has some big expectations for next season.

“The hope is to have 15 to 20 swimmers either by the end of this season or to start out next season,” Braswell said. “Some people are finding out how much fun it is and see what we’re about.”