Not only is the swim team creating waves, but their hard work is put to the test at each competition.
Lebanon Trail’s swimming season has officially begun, with long-term preparations finally being put to use in competitions, like the face-off with Lonestar and Independence.
“Our coach’s name is Coach Graves, and my favorite thing about her is that she pushes us, so we can swim really fast, and she’s really motivating too,” Xerxes Gandhi, a sophomore on the swim team, said.
Xerxes started swimming at the age of three, and he decided to begin swimming lessons. After becoming accustomed to the water, he became interested in the sport and the equipment that comes with it.
“We use a kickboard which helps improve your kick,” Gandhi said. “We use a buoy and paddle. The buoy helps you limit kicking, and the paddle helps you pull without kicking, to improve your arm speed.”
However, practice is not limited to just these techniques. The swim team routinely follows sets to build strength and move quickly.
“Typically with practice, we would warm up, we would do a drillset or a kick-set,” Gandhi said. “Then, we would have a main set and a recovery afterward.”
Warm-ups are a common way to start a swim event, with thirty minutes counting down on the clock. There are multiple events within the swim meet, and there’s a specific selection process to determine who will participate in a particular event.
“Typically, the week before entries are due for each meeting, you get a wishlist so you can put from one to eight– which events you want to swim,” Gandhi said. “One being you really want to swim it, and eight meaning you don’t really want to swim it.”
The coach uses the wishlist to encourage student opinions, and she considers which student would be the best fit for a particular event. Especially, if the player can bring the team success. The swimmers have also attended two dual meets, which take place after school.
“We leave for the dual meets at 4:00, but the meet doesn’t start until 5:45,” Gandhi said.
Generally, the team doesn’t return until 9:00-9:30, leaving them with less time to do homework, relax, and sleep. They either cram homework at the last minute or finish in between competitions.
“I would do some of my homework in advance, if possible,” Gandhi said. “Or, I would go home, eat dinner, study a little bit, and then wake up early the next morning to study again.”
With many absences this year, due to covid, flu, and strep throat, the swim team needs to notify their coach early on to be excused from a competition.
“You would have to inform her at least a week in advance,” Gandhi said. “Each event costs money, and she has to pay for it, at the end of the day.”
However, she understands and excuses the absence if the student brings a doctor’s note, creating a fine line between regular and competitive swimming.
“Regular swimming– you don’t really focus on the technique and speed as much,” Gandhi said. “With competitive swimming, you focus more on your speed, your endurance, [and] technique– to help you swim faster.”
Although Lebanon Trail has recently lost to Lone Star and Independence high school, they’ve been practicing to be successful in upcoming competitions.
