Senior Night Prepares Swim Team For Season’s End

Tears began to fall, mixing with the pool water that had been tracked across the tile floor. Girls huddled together, unsure whether they should smile or sob as they watched the seniors they had grown so close to say goodbye.

Although the Highland High school swim team has a few more meets left in their season, the team recognized their seniors last Friday at the end of the Highland invitational swim meet.

“It was a really cool experience and it was really fun to be recognized,” swim captain Olivia White said. “Our swim mom got a gift for all the seniors and said a couple words about them.”

The team’s “swim mom” who is very involved with the activities the team participates in chose one word that best describes each of the seniors. As she called each senior up, the large portion of the team who stayed to support the seniors cheered. More teammates stayed this year than in previous years, and it was clear that there was a strong connection between the graduating class and their teammates.

“When I went up I was holding back tears, trying not to cry,” White said. “I was looking at the team and all the girls were crying. It was so cool seeing the impact we had on them.”

The swimmers are thankful for the time they have with the team before the season ends, and they’re using the time they have to their advantage. With just a few more opportunities to get a state qualifying time, the swimmers are working as hard as they can to shave off miniscule amounts of time from their races.

The captains this year worked very hard to bring the team together, and they’re hoping the support supplied by the team will help push people to work towards making it to state. Although Highland’s swim team is not as large as many other teams they compete against, they are a competitive team that puts up a fight. The captains accredit the team’s success not only to the swimmers’ hard work, but also to the encouraging environment within the team.