Swimming Dives Into Competition

By Victoria Guerrero | Photo by Anysia Gonzales

Originally published in the Nov. 18 print edition of the Advocate

According to swim coach Robert Duin, swimming one mile expends more than twice as much energy as running the same distance. In one week, the team practices five days a week. Then factor in meets, competitions and additional practices, for seven long months.

Despite the grueling schedule, the swim team is still as dedicated as ever to their sport.

“I respect their work ethic,” Duin said of the teams. “You get out of the sport what you put into the sport.”

Both the boys and girls teams are relatively young, consisting of mostly underclassmen that are learning the ropes of the sport. At swim meets, 30 points are awarded to the swimmer who won first place, 25 to second and so on based on how many competitors there are. Those scores are then compiled and the team with the most points wins the match. Currently, the girls team has won three out of three meets. The boys team is 0-3 but lost a match by only one point this season.

“Ineligibility really hurt us,” Duin said.

On Saturday, the teams went to the County Invitational and according to senior Pamela Cortes, this most recent competition was a representation of how they will do later in the season.

“The Mavs did an excellent job,” Cortes, co-captain of the girls team, said. “Almost everyone dropped time, we had no DQs (disqualifications) and the team looked great.”

The next swim meet will be preliminaries for the Texas Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association competition on the Jan. 2 at Blossom Athletic Center, followed the next day by the TISCA finals. That means more practices and more pool time until then. But there’s a silver lining to the thunderclouds of hard work.

“Being with the whole team makes it all worth it,” junior Analicia Baker said.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *