Swimming into the season

By SYDNEY ANDERSON

Swimming and Diving are back at IHS for the winter season. Meets for the team take place mostly on Thursdays,  with occasional meets on Tuesdays or Fridays.

Coming to home meets is a great way to support the IHS swim team.

Practices take place Monday through Saturday when there aren’t meets. Swim practices take place at the field house on IUP campus and occasionally at Zink. These consist of a variety of distances. Swimmers work on individual skills such as kicking, pulling, drills, endurance training, starts, and finishes. These practices are run by head coach Sarah Brown and assistant coach Skip Griffith.

Diving practices are run by IUP student and coach Allison Brownlee. When Brownlee is unable to make it to practice, divers complete ab workouts or conditioning at the field house. Typically practice for the divers takes place at Zink where divers work on forward, back, inward, reverse and twist.

Captains for the swim team are Senior Emma Grim and juniors Alex Bauer, Hadley Long, and Evan Speer. Long comments, “I’m excited to cheer everyone on and make their swimming experience as fun as possible.”

A tough opponent for the team includes Mount Pleasant, who is a AAA team and last year’s section winner. The team, however, is confident that with hard work they might have a chance to take that title.

Some big meets and practices for the team come towards the end of the season. The team has invitational meets including The Mark Hess Memorial. The biggest meets at the end of the season are WIPIALs and states.

Fun practices include captain-run practice, Christmas-themed, and other practices in which swimmers will be surprised. Freshman Maddy Bauer says, “I think most of us make it to WIPIALs and hopefully to PIAA’s.”

Swim season will last from November through March.  Meets typically last an hour and a half with a break in the middle for swimmers to regroup and prepare for the rest. There are nine individuals and three relays, and diving usually takes place before or during the middle of the swim meet.

Coming to home meets is a great way to show support for the high school swim team. Meets are fun and exciting to watch and always a good sport to cheer for. 

[Photo by Gabi Isenberg] “Freshman Maddy Bauer steps up to the block to lead Indiana’s relay to a win”

 

Sydney Anderson

Reporter

Sydney is a freshman and a first-year reporter for the High Arrow. She plays soccer, softball, and swimming for the high school. She is excited to start writing articles for the community at IHS.

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