As summer comes to a close and school begins, the idea of swimming begins to drop from students’ minds altogether. However, for a select group of girls, the thought becomes secondary only to homework– or so their teachers hope.
Carl Sandburg High School’s Girls Swim Team season is in full swing this fall, with practice before and after school constantly. Coach Driscoll said she believes they have a successful team this year full of strong swimmers. Swimmers have intense training in the pool in the afternoon, and utilize the school’s weight room for strength training in the morning. Combined with Saturday practices and meets, these swimmers are working hard to have a successful season.
Still, there’s something that has these swimmers and divers keep coming back; Coach Driscoll was able to list a plethora of great swimmers and divers to look out for this season. Intense training is accompanied by greater themes and lessons. Varsity swimmer Olivia Chobrak said, “I love that feeling of when I hit the water and it’s like okay, it’s only you and the water.”
There’s a lot of individual work in swimming, in trying to shave off seconds from their time, making corrections, and taking lap after lap. “These are some of the hardest working athletes in the school,” commented Coach Driscoll. But the work in training is for a reason, all leading up to competition where the individuality shifts to an especially supportive environment, full of teammates cheering together for each other.
Another important element of the team are the bonds and support they create. They take it further than just the cheering during meets. There’s team breakfasts after weights on Wednesdays, pasta parties, the Jane’s Warriors 5k, even scavenger hunts around the school. The girls take initiative as well, creating a big-sister-little-sister pairing tradition. “Seniors and juniors are paired up with a sophomore or freshman and we like to put together a little basket for each other and that’s kind of who we stick along with,” explained Chrobak. As a junior, she’s now been both the big and little sister. For her, the experience has changed, now that she’s a “role model especially for…the newer girls that don’t really have much experience on the swim team.”
The team also visits Irons Oaks every year at the start of the season to learn how to work as a unit, even if they go solo in the water. Participating in activities that require teamwork, it’s a fun adventure, even if “sometimes that’s hard cause they’ll be like, ‘well I’m doing it right but someone else isn’t doing it right,’” as Coach Driscoll noted.
It’s teaching life lessons like navigating these situations that Coach Driscoll loves about coaching. She said that seeing athletes make great progress is the best part of what she does. Learning how to make that progress is the important part, because even if they’re not going to be a professional swimmer, she hopes that her swimmers will go on to be a good neighbor, friend, employee, and citizen and that “the skills that they learn on the swim team will help them become that.” Chrobak said she’s already learned how hard work will always come back to her, and how that applies to all parts of life.
Therefore, while beach and pool days end, these swimmers are ramping it up. Carl Sandburg High School hosts a cohesive team of close, incredibly, hard working athletes.