When the swimmers step up to the race, they only have a few seconds to get themselves ready. Climbing onto their starting blocks, they must adjust so their feet can grip the surface, with one foot back and one foot forward. When the official calls “Take your mark,” for just a brief moment, the pool falls silent. Then, after the beep, they burst off the board.

The dive into the water is all momentum from the legs. The swimmers drive off the block with all their force to launch their bodies forward and downward, forming an arc with their bodies. Fingers hit the water first, followed by their head and upper body. A clean entry with minimal splash helps maintain momentum for a strong underwater phase.

Breathing is one of the hardest skills to master in swimming. During every swim style, it is different. For the backstroke, the swimmers can breathe whenever they want.  For the butterfly stroke, breathing must be done while the head is lifted forward, but it cannot break the body’s wave of motion and disrupt their swim. During the breast stroke, breathing happens naturally as the head pops above the water. During the freestyle, swimmers must turn their head to the side to breathe in a mouthful of air.

The backstroke looks smooth when done well, but takes lots of skill and practice to be efficient at it. Each arm must move in a continuous windmill motion to pull the swimmer through the water, and they must also stay flat on the water so their hips and legs do not drag through the water. Although it seems easy to breathe with their face up on top of the water, they must keep a continuous rhythm. Too much head movement will slow them down.

Sophomore Mary Wagner had a 0.48 time improvement in her 50-yard free event. This event highlights the fastest swimmers and leaves the entire crowd on edge for the short amount of time the event lasts.

After close races, the swimmers give a quick high-five after races. Although competition is fierce, the Wildcat swimmers fill themselves with sportsmanship over rivalry.

The girls’ swim team has had many new personal record times. Junior Natalie Brown was 0.78 seconds faster on her 200-yard IM. During the 200-yard IM, a single swimmer must swim all four strokes in one race.

“It’s fun to get faster, especially when all of your friends are cheering you on and you’re just racing your teammates, and I’m just excited to get faster towards the end of the season,” Brown said.

At a swim meet, you can typically find the Wildcats lined up at the edge of the pool with their heads whipping back and forth, watching their teammate down the lane.

“Even though we didn’t win the meet, I’m super happy with my team because I know we all tried really hard and there was a lot of energy and cheering throughout the whole meet,” Brown said.

“It’s been six weeks, we’ve been working really hard, but having them have some good races right now means that we’re gonna have some really good races in the next four to five weeks,” coach Sophie Parr said.