With the varsity district meet fast approaching Feb. 12-13, the swim team has been hard at work perfecting their events. Results were not available as of press time.

“We have many potential state qualifiers on both boys and girls team,” said Mollie Starr, head coach. “Ellie Jew is possible in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. We are hoping to qualify Tyler Soo in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Joey Henderson and Rees Kyle will also be a factor in their individual events,” she said.

The junior varsity district meet was held on Feb. 5, and Starr said the team has been tapering its training regimen the two weeks leading up to the meet to maximize performance.

Every season, there’s always things to improve on for coaches and swimmers alike. “For next season, I’m just going to keep improving my time and hopefully build my endurance up a little bit more,” Emily Saling, junior said regarding what her goals for next season are.

Practices are a key time for the swimmers to prepare for the meets. “As always, 6A competition is very competitive. I focus more on individual improvement over win/loss records. So far this year, almost every swimmer has achieved a personal record. Next season, I would like to have more swimmers and more personal records,” Starr said regarding the 2017 season to come.

Many of the swimmers thought that everyone was giving their best effort. “I have [had] pretty high expectations this year. All season everyone’s been doing great, people have been swimming best times and improving on all levels. Everyone’s worked really all season, and I think it’s going to pay off big time at districts,” said junior Tanner Montagriff-Peck.

Memories are some of the best ways for the team to build a bond with each other, especially when first meeting their teammates. “My favorite memory of the season so far was when we were in the ‘cool down’ (kiddy pool side) and it was the entire Cleveland team and then the officials told us to only use it for swimming,” Saling said.

Don’t miss the district meet on Feb. 12 and 13 where we may have a state qualifier on our hands. Results will be available at our website, Clevelandclarion.com.