Girl's Swimming and Diving Primed for Big Season

By Jessica Hodges- 10/10

NEIRAD enilno edition

Senior Alexandra Ashcraft steps onto the diving board. Meanwhile senior Kelly Scholtz steps onto the swimming block ready to dive in for her race. Butterflies are in both of their stomachs- that feeling of anxiousness has come around again with the start of swim season.

The team is ready. They were conditioning nearly all summer, so they could start the fall season on a strong note. They had weight lifting twice a week and practices at the Woodway Country Club pool, a local club in town. Yet, the transition from summer practice to the fall season is still a jarring one.

“The schedule change from summer swim season to the year is definitely a big one. We practice every day, sometimes twice a day and it’s really important to take full advantage of our pool times” junior Monica O’Brien said.

Then there is the new schedule, which changed when the swimming and diving team moved up to class L division this year. The “L” stands for large. The team moved up to this larger division when the squad grew in size, adding 15 freshmen and one sophomore. . Now they must face teams in this larger more competitive division.

The swimming team has much strength: a key one is the camaraderie. During Labor Day weekend the team took a trip together to Cape May in Cape Cod for team bonding time.

Besides having such a close team Amy says “we definitely have some strong strokes - the breast stroke is one of our strongest events because we didn’t lose any of the powerful breast strokers. One of our biggest competitors, Greenwich, lost their strongest breast stroke swimmer, so we definitely have the upper hand in that event,” senior Amy Sanborn said.

Freestyle is one area of weakness. The team’s strongest freestylers were seniors who graduated last June. They include Katie Orem, Sam Berrizi, Cali Ceglarski, Katie Rohn, Kelsey Harrison, and Paige Gasparino. Coach Marge Trifone says “This year we can expect Lindsay Tyler, and Katherine Treesh to excel in freestyle”. Coach Trifone said there are some other swimmers she expects to perform well this season. “Olivia Leunis in 100 breast and 100 fly, Caroline Orem 100 back and 1 IM, Lindsey Tyler 200 free, Catherine Treesh 50 and 100 free.”

The roughest part is adjusting to a team minus some key players. This year they will be missing Sam Berrizi, Katie Orem, Cali Ceglarski, Paige Gasparino, Kelsey Harrison, Katie Rohn, Lina Star, Rose Phelps, Tamaki Silver, Andrea Smelser, and Lexi Crouse. “We won’t do as good as last year just because we lost are strong seniors but we have an amazing group of girls, and we have so much fun being a team, if everyone works hard in practice then we have a great shot at winning our meets,” sophomore Olivia Leunis said. Senior captain Amy Sanborn is optimistic the new recruits will ease the transition.

“We have gained so many great freshmen. Even though they are not as experienced they are willing to work really hard,” Sanborn said.

The swimming and diving team has much strength: a key one is the camaraderie. During Labor Day weekend the team took a trip together to Cape May in Cape Cod for some team bonding time.

The diving team is equally pumped about the new freshmen signing on this season. “I’d really like to see every diver qualify for States,” senior captain Adrianna Baker said. The team this year has some very talented divers some that show through as the lead competitors are seniors Adrianna Baker and Alexandra Ashcraft and sophomore Caroline Ashcraft. When talking to Alexandra about the season and some of goals she has for her teammates and herself she says “I want to learn dives that will help me become a better competitor in college. It would be great if I could learn front two and one half pike, and front one and one half summersault with two twists. Goals that I have for my teammates is that everyone qualifies for States”.

Both teams look to be off to a great start this season and ready to work hard. The team should definitely be expecting some wins this season.

Click here to read about the girls' latest meet results.

Also Published In This Issue: DHS Students Struggle With "Cirinoitis" by Darius Majd, The Story Behind the Stories by Doug Miller, Senior Backpacks by Katherine Minion, Darien Martial Arts Seeks Fresh Start by Sean Gill, Rolling With Chair Changes by Taiki Miki, Stranded Seniors by Doug Wells, Field Day: Fun for All? by Staff, October 1980 Blast from the Past by Julia Lang, Roving Reporter: What is Your Favorite Part of Homecoming by Jessica DeMaio, Girl's Swimming and Diving Primed for Big Season by Jessica Hodges, Conquering the Cafeteria by Sam Wood, School Clubs in Need of Makeover by Melanie Tzenova, The Lost Art of Clutch Driving by Frank Lombardi, Hot in the Lot: Olivia Taylor's "Batmobile" by Sam Wood, Social Studies Teacher Makes a Comeback by Ben Hall, A Delicious Pair by Lauren Keena and Jenn O’Neill, Freshman Traces Her Tropical Roots by Annabel Schneider, Cribs: Dana Howe by Katrina Vassel, Neirad's Homecoming 2010:Special Photo Commentary by Alice Wang, NEIRAD Top 5: What's your favorite Halloween candy? by Shelby Penfield, Homecoming Game Photo Slide Show by Alice Wang, Darien Readies for Accreditation by Katie Grozier and Collin Shay in Nierad Print, Timmons' Twilight Haungted House by Emily Close and Jay Alter in Nierad Print, No More Blue Wave News? by Katie Donovan in Nierad Print, Slacking Seniors? Stressing Seniors. by Parker Lange and Kevin Cassidy in Nierad Print, No Gym for Student Athletes by Olivia Leunis and Maddie Van Elslader in Nierad Print, Letter to the Editor by Kendall Kyritz and Kristi Carey in Nierad Print, 10 Days of Terror by Ben Hall in Nierad Print, The Principal of Calculus by Jamie Muehring in Nierad Print, Roving Reporter by Emily Close in Nierad Print, At Chunky Pam's It's Halloween Year Round by Michael Coe in Nierad Print, Fuel Cell Program Gets Ready for Big Time by Chris Janson in Nierad Print, Measuring CAPTitude by Darius Majd in Nierad Print, New Restaurant Makes a Scene by Katrina Vassel in Nierad Print, Parking Permits See 50% Increase by Julia Lang in Nierad Print, New Coach Births New Era by Kevin Cassidy in Nierad Print, There's No Price for Perfection by Rebecca Liu and Jay Alter in Nierad Print, DHS By the Numbers by Jay Alter and Kevin Cassidy in Nierad Print,