Boys swim and dive

After placing third at state last year and losing the strong senior leadership that encompassed almost half the team, swim coach Kyle Farrington says he is excited to hit reset and give this year’s senior leadership the opportunity to establish the strong team culture and supportive family atmosphere that he believes is an integral part of successful performances.

“While it will be pretty tough to live up to the expectations that were set last year, I think [the swimmers] are going to be surprised by how strong of a team they actually are,” Farrington said. “Not only do we have a bunch of really strong returning swimmers, but I think their leadership will go a long way towards developing our team and making us stronger.”

Senior JP Larson says that though the team may have lost some of the speed they had going into last year, he thinks the team has a lot of potential and room to grow because of all the new swimmers. Like Farrington, Larson also said what this year’s team may be lacking in experience, it makes up for with its supportive team environment.

“Our team strength is definitely our family atmosphere, how we’re all brothers and kind of look out for each other,” Larson said. “We make sure everyone is doing their part [and] we don’t leave anybody behind.”

According to Farrington, everyone on the dive team is relatively new, not just to the team, but to the sport. Farrington and senior diver Alec Weber said their ultimate goal for the season is to send at least two divers to state.

Farrington believes the key to both teams maximizing their potential and reaching their goals is to maintain an encouraging and social community in and out of the pool.

“[The swimmers are] going to do a good job of not only making everybody feel welcome in the pool area, but then also pushing people and holding people accountable for delivering the best practices they can,” Farrington said. “I think [team chemistry] directly contributes to good swimming”