After last season’s record, 3-4, the girls swim team is prepared to dive into a new season, treading to new depths.

Teacher and coach Brian Wingert  has been coaching the school swim team for 11 years.

Wingert is feeling positive about the upcoming season with his girls from the school swim team.

“The girls have a really strong core, and we’re looking to build on some of our gaps to round out our line up,” Wingert said.

To prepare for new year of competition, the team starts with a daily morning workout in the weight room. After school, the team meets in the YMCA to have practical training. Wingert lets the seasoned swimmers lead new members through the workout.

“We practice 5 days a week from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the YMCA, and we go to the weight room in the mornings,” Wingert said. “I have kids that already know the skills, so I can use them to demonstrate. I have videos that I can show the kids, and I can stand up and show them motions.”

Senior Katie Ball joined the swim team during her freshman year. She has been practicing with the pre-team over the summer to prepare for the upcoming season.

“For the pre-team, you walk into the Y, [and] you do dry land, that’s like push-ups, and then we do 3 sets for each practice, usually the first ones[sessions] are a little bit easier, same with the second and then the third one is usually really hard,” Ball said.

Being one of 19 girls of the swim team, Ball is focusing on distance swimming this upcoming season. One of her goals is to beat her own time.

“Typically, I am a distance swimmer; I do the 500[meters] free, 200[meters] free, and then the 100[meters] fly,” Ball said. “I just [want to] drop time this year and have fun.”

While members of the swim team compete against five other teams out of the division, some find that their biggest competitor is not from the opposing team.

“Swimming is very much a mental sport; every swimmer’s biggest competitor is themselves in the water,” Ball said.

Swimmers get to learn the same skills as everyone else. As soon as the students begin to reach higher levels, they get taught more specific movements.

“The training is just a little bit different, but at the beginner end, it’s basically the same; when you’re a beginner they all are learning the same skills, ” Wingert said. “Everybody has the same strengths and weaknesses. At that level, it’s basically identical, and as you get a little bit higher in ability, then attempts to split out a little bit different,”