Swim and dive will face a unique challenge this season: competing against their district teams, like James Madison and Stone Bridge High School, during the dual meet season, but later participate in competitions against teams they haven’t faced before during the championship season.
Many other sports face similar challenges, but because swim and dive is more individualized, new challenges arise.
Head coach and English teacher Julie Curtin further explained the difficulties of the situation.
“It’s tough going into the championship season not swimming against those championship teams because you don’t see what they have,” Curtin said. “Then you want to write a very strong line up for the conference meet, but you haven’t swum any of your conference teams.”
Not everyone is uncomfortable with the situation; Sophomore Eric Barna enjoys that aspect of the swim and dive championship season.
“With the dual meets the teams we get to face aren’t ones we usually [see] so that’s nice,” Barna said.
Senior Cara Bazaria thinks that the benefits of this system will outweigh the negatives.
“It’s a little disappointing because we don’t get to see the competition that will be against us in conferences, but it also helps us improve and makes us a better team,” Barazia said.
An exception to this challenge is Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, which they complete against in both the dual meets and championship season.
Despite these challenges, students enjoy the bonding experience of being on a large team with an individualized edge.
“I like that it’s individual and team. It’s kind of like a combination because you hang out with everyone on the team and in the meets you’re all working together to earn points for the team and win the meet,” Bazaria said. “But, it’s individual in that you swim your own race, go for your personal best.”