Winter sports are here! One sport offered at CHS is swim and dive.
Terry Janicek, the head coach, is very excited to get the season back in the water. One of his goals for this year is “looking at bringing our presence back to State this year on both the men’s and women’s teams.” Last year, the team had one swimmer and one diver who qualified for State. This year, Janicek hopes to have up to 10 athletes make it to State! They also have a new assistant coach, Garett Hahn, who swam during his high school years. “He brings a drive and professionalism to the team to help push us to be better on all levels,” said Janicek.
Many returners can’t wait to see what this season has in store. One of them is Remy Roubal, who said “meeting all of the fun personalities on the team” is his favorite part about swim and dive. His goal for this year is to “…get a faster time and even qualify for State.” Of course, there are challenges in every sport, and for Roubal, it is “…waking up at 6 a.m. to go to the aquatic center, then having to get in the cold water.”
Greta Roberts is one of the captains for this year’s team, and she also hopes to make State, not only individually but in her relays as well. She also has a mental block about getting up so early for practice and going to after-school practices as well. “It can be really overwhelming and tiring sometimes, but as soon as your sleep schedule adjusts, it’s really not that bad.” Roberts said her favorite part of swim and dive is the culture. “…we’re all so supportive of each other and there’s very rarely any drama or anything, it’s a really tight-knit group.”
Martin Velasco said that swim and dive has taught him not just about how hard the sport is, but “... it has taught me consistency. Consistency not just with the water but with my life, from the smallest thing like waking up and going to practice and then school to setting a goal and actually getting better day after day despite feeling exhausted, sore, tired, or unmotivated.” His goal for this season is to also qualify for state in either his relays or the 100-yard butterfly.
Dive captain Kaitlyn Janicek’s goal for this year is to get her 11 dives down and qualify for State. She said a challenging thing about swim and dive is just getting people to try out for swim. “Even if they are not sure about it, they should still come to the pre-season and try it out.”
I can’t wait to see what the swim and dive team accomplishes this year! Come back tomorrow and read more about winter sports. Be sure to check out our Instagram @chsanchornews. Have an awesome day, Discoverers!
