With the month of January comes the return of the swim and dive district meet which will determine who moves on to the next level of competition leading up to the state meet. The divers will compete in their district meet at the Natatorium on Friday, Jan. 17 at 5 p.m. while the swimmers will race in their meet the next day Saturday, Jan. 18 at 3:30 p.m.
“I hope to drop time in my 100 [breaststroke] and support my relay so that they can make regionals,” swimmer Tyler Dean said.
As per tradition, the week leading up to districts saw swimmers showcasing a diverse style of leggings. Leggings are used as drag during taper swim practices and are not only beneficial to a swimmer’s performance, but also contributes to team bonding.
“I think it’s a great team bonding exercise,” swimmer Olivia Caban said. “I personally love doing it because you look fun and goofy with the rest of your team while actually training harder than normal. Plus, when leggings week comes, you know that it’s the final countdown to districts and regionals.”
This year’s competition is fierce as there are 10 teams within the district but only the top six finishers of each event will be able to move on to the next phase, the Region Meet. Years past have historically seen most if not all relays make the cut to move on, as well as a considerable number of individual events.
“I hope that we’ll be able to qualify all of our relays and more swimmers than last year for the regional meet,”Captain Carolyn Kosek said. “I know a couple of swimmers like Sam Worden really want to break their records so I want the whole team up on our feet’s cheering them on to their goal.”
One of the most exciting meets of the season, the district meet is always filled with fast swims, new records, high tension and lots of adrenaline. Encouraging students to come and support are the swim captains who hope to fill the stands with falcon spirit.
“I’d definitely still love to get a lot of support at the district swim meet since its one of the biggest meets of the year for the whole team,” Kosek explained. “Having our school cheering on our team would help push more swimmers on to the regional meet.”