As winter quickly approaches, the Battlefield High School swim team is preparing for a fast and gruelling swim season. Swimming is a very demanding sport on the body, requiring weeks of intense practices and conditioning. Joining the Battlefield swim team requires a special skill to push oneself to the limits everyday. The training that goes along with the swim team is no joke either. The swimmers need to wake up before school at ungodly hours to meet a freezing pool to start off their day. They also go to the pool for a second time after school to train once again, leaving limited time for school and social life.

Colleen Daghita, Battlefield sophomore and swimmer, said,“I like morning practices, but not everyday. It can be really draining to sometimes, having to wake up that early and use all that energy is not beneficial to me.” For people who have been swimming for many years, waking up to an alarm for practice is still brutally challenging. She also said that, “I love to swim, but I never have enough time for homework and sleep!” Swimming multiple times a day leads to limited time for swimmers to complete homework and study for important tests.

Junior and varsity Battlefield swimmer Jack Tolar said, “I love the competitive aspect of swim meets and how it gives me the opportunity to show everyone what I can do.” Swim meets are extremely competitive between rivaling schools, often having enormous group cheers for the swimmers racing. Tolar has also stated, “I love the team, and I treat them as my second family.” For swimmers and many athletes in general, their team is considered to be their “home away from home.” They spend a lot of time with one another and encourage each other to do their best.    

Freshman and swimmer Emmett Hannam states that, “swimming comes comes at a cost with many sacrifices, but nothing in this world remotely compares to the thrill of beating your personal best time.” Swimming certainly has many ups and downs, but at the end of the day, after all the hard work was put in, watching the clock put an insane time is the feeling all swimmers strive to see.

Swimming is an incredibly tough sport that requires a great deal of focus, dedication, and skill. Swimmers are a special breed of human, as they start off their day with freezing water and end their day with intense soreness. The Battlefield Swim Team is shaping up to being a strong swimming force that will come together as a family and show other teams in the state its swimming power.