All swimmers jumped in the pool as WHHS held its swimming tryouts for girls and boys. The tryouts started Monday, 11/14, and will end Monday, 11/21, with more than 30 students in attendence.  However, not everyone is guaranteed to make the team.  The tryouts were not easy by any stretch of the imagination and those who want to earn a high spot on either the girls or boys team must train and work very hard leading up to tryouts.  

The tryouts Monday through Wednesday started with a length between a 300m to 500m warm up, each day 100m was added.  After the warm up, the swimmers each did sets of strokes such as 10×100 freestyle or 4×100.  On Thursday, the swimmers had time trials, which is a friendly race between the teammates, but is timed.  They swam 100m freestyle and also another 100 for backstroke.  The coaches will compare the times and pick from the best to determine who will make the team.  

The swimmers who make the girls team will look to continue their success, as last year they went 11-2-1.  Almost every meet, the girls would blow away their opponents.  The boys, on the other hand, fought through a tough season last year, ending with a 4-6 record.  This year, they will be looking to do much better than that.

Ilona Margolin, a freshman swimmer, commented, “This year we moved up a league which means we will have to face major teams.  The coaches expect a lot of dedication and hard work because of that.  Even if we aren’t going to win, we still have to put forth our best effort.  The coaches are looking for people who they know will get better over the course of the season.”

This season, the swimmers will have a lot more pressure in a better league. We will see if they can answer the expectations or even exceed them.