Swim, an underappreciated high school sport often overlooked in favor of more traditionally popular sports. However, swimming has proved itself when it comes to producing top tier athletes.

Sports like football and basketball are often the most popular in high school and with the pipeline to professional leagues, they’re often considered to be more exciting and enjoyable to watch. Even so, swimming can take someone by surprise with the intensity and electricity in the air at meets. 

“The atmosphere is more tense and you can feel that even at districts everybody is super serious, and they have their tech suits on, ” Senior Nicole Carpenter said. 

But something people might not realize is the close sense of community swimmers develop with each other. Long meets and full day events often led to bonds that last outside of the natatorium. When Junior Ashlee Pendscen was asked about the biggest difference between club and school she mentioned the meaningful friendships she has formed.

“The community [is different], you’re really close with your high school teammates but then in club you don’t talk to most people,” Penscen said.

While swim meets can be grueling in and out of the water, practices can be more than just challenging to get through. These athletes have to start off the day bright and early with an 1 ½ hour practice and then head straight to class

“We start at 6 in the morning … we do our sets and they can be really hard. We do drills, we do a lot of kicks and we focus on distance [which is]  where we sprint for around 300,” Peden said.

Our program has also produced some amazing athletes like diver Alexdria Acosta Colobamni plans to swim in Puerto Rico and compete at the national level and if she makes a spot on the national team. Last year Colobamni qualified for state in diving and then subsequently placed fourth. 

“The swimming coaches at Seven Lakes are amazing. Their workouts are intense, but they help you go beyond your limits,” said Colobamni. “They care about each and everyone of their athletes, meaning that they help push me on the tough and tiring days.”