During the first week of February, Amador’s Swim and Dive team officially began their season. This is their first normal season since the start of the pandemic, so the team is excited to get started.

“We are expecting a full season. We are super excited about not being affected by COVID-19 like we have been for the last two years. We are going to have two home-meets and two away-meets, a huge conference meet, as well as the league and the NCS. We’re going full steam ahead,” said Coach Erika Vieler.

This year, the Swim and Dive team is bustling with new and returning members, making it one of the largest teams on campus, which Coach Vieler believes is the team’s greatest advantage.

“We have strength in numbers. There are a lot of kids who come out here and swim. We have a lot of diversity in strokes, and with all the different events they do, it won’t be a problem to fill our events for meets. For things to work on, there isn’t anything really big; maybe just improve their timing and speed,” said Vieler.

Competitive swimming requires a lot of time commitment to prepare for tournaments. As a result, athletes need to have strong time management skills to balance schoolwork, practices, and meets.

“Every day, I list out a schedule for myself and estimate how much time my homework would take before going to swim practice. That way I can plan out how long or how many breaks I can take in between my work. But if I have a really crammed schedule, I might leave practice early after notifying the coach. I still try my best to skip practice as little as possible though.” said Irayna Lin (‘24).

With the threat of the Omicron variant lessening, many clubs and teams have been able to loosen up on some COVID-19 restrictions. However, there are still some regulations in effect for the Swim and Dive team. 

“I would say that COVID-19 is still affecting club season swimmers. People who swim for clubs aren’t really allowed to practice with Amador currently, but you still get that sense of team bonding, so it’s not too bad,” said Kavya Jadhav (‘23).

Despite the lingering restrictions, Amador’s swim team still brings out the best from their members. Making strong connections within the team encourages friendly competition and makes the experience all the more worth it.

“The team is definitely my favorite part of swimming. Having that kind of bond with your friends, especially when you’re doing something you love and enjoy, is probably the most important,” said Jadhav.

Competitions, improvement, and bonds are all equally important, but the most essential part of being on the swim team is being able to have fun. After all, the team is meant to help members enjoy themselves while improving upon their skills.

“Our goals are for everyone to have a great season and for everyone to improve on their times. The beauty of swimming is that you can always find something that you improved on. That can be your time in an event, or your dive, or you tried an event you’ve never tried before. We just want everyone to walk away with some sort of improvement on a goal that they had,” said Vieler.