This year, the Pleasant Valley Girls Swimming and Diving team has been off to a strong start. With a meet record so far of 5-1, the team is in a competitive spot. Part of this success may be attributed to the strong freshmen class and coach Frank Demaria, currently in his second year of coaching the high school team. As captain Katie Oros said about the upbeat atmosphere, “I think a lot of it has to do with Frank coming back this season, so many of us already knew what to expect from him.” With many coaching changes in the past several years, the newfound stability has strengthened the program.
This particular part of the swim season is especially exhausting for the swimmers. They are expected to attend nine practices a week, each two hours long with three of them taking place in before dawn at 5:30 am. They began practices in early August and have been in the pool non-stop ever since. After a couple weeks of this grueling schedule, many swimmers began to get into a routine of doing nothing more than eating, sleeping, homework, and swimming.
The senior class, lead by captains Grace Schons, Libby Staver, Christy Bishop, Katie Oros, and Lauren Groenenboom, have been making it a priority to keep enthusiasm up throughout the season. During their toughest practices and even when they are still half-asleep, jokes and laughter can be heard from all of the girls. The sport is not an easy one, but the atmosphere of the team keeps it fun and positive for all the swimmers. As junior Carly Lundry said, “Swimming is a tough sport, and it takes a lot to get used to the level that we train at, and I think our younger swimmers have adjusted really well.”
Fortunately, their hard work has already begun to pay off. Many swimmers from across the classes have already reached their season goals or surpassed best times, both accomplishments which are very challenging to achieve mid-season. Demaria encouraged these athletes to set even harder goals for the rest of the season.
Many swimmers have also already met the time qualification for this year’s state championship. Senior Libby Staver has already qualified in both the the 200 and 500 yard freestyle. Alongside her is teammate Christy Bishop who has qualified in the 100 yard breaststroke. Two freshmen have also already qualified; Taylor Buhr in the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley, and Grace Veach in the 100 backstroke. As Lundry mentioned again about the end of the season, “I have confidence that we are going to see some really fast times.”
