The winter sports season has begun and the Battlefield Swim and Dive team has already kicked off the season with a big splash. For being one of the less popular high school sports, the Swim and Dive team has a lot going on throughout the winter. The season stretches from late November through the middle of February for those who qualify for the State Team. With the swim team’s two coaches, Coach Thorpe and Coach Cook, and the head of the dive team, Coach Misencik, the team is set up for yet another great season.

Despite being called the “Swim & Dive” team, the two teams do not practice together or have any meets occurring at the same time. This season’s team consists of a total of 66 swimmers (33 boys and girls each) and 3 dive team members. The head of BHS Swim & Dive Communications, Janette Nash says, “In my opinion, this year’s season will turn out with a conference win for the boys and they will be state championship winners.” Leading up to conferences, the swimmers and divers have four main meets in which they compete with the other teams in their conference. The team’s biggest competition in the past years has been Patriot High School. With the team’s hard work and effort during practice and at the meets, the team will hopefully come out with a win.

The swim team is very close, not only because they practice with each other four days a week, but also because they have many activities together outside of their practices and meets. Payton Boyer, a senior on the Battlefield Swim team, has shared her favorite parts about swim, “The friends and the awesome memories being made to make our high school experience ten times better.” Throughout the season, the team has various parties the night prior to a meet. The team is able to bond together and get to know each other in another setting.

Unlike many school sports, the Swim and Dive team does not have the opportunity to have “home” meets. The majority of their meets take place at Freedom Center, or at Colgan High School. When the meets have a full crowd to cheer on the swimmers, it makes the swimmers feel more excited. Jessica Lee who is a sophomore on the swim team said, “Before every meet I have the tendency to have really high anxiety, but with large crowds cheering, it fills me with confidence and encourages me to push harder. The loud cheering and people calling my name fills me with even more adrenaline and gets me hyped for the event I am swimming.” Having a large amounts of people in the bleachers allows the team to go into the meet with a positive mindset.