The Swimming Season began on October 10th with an amazing start; however, it seems that little people within the Athens Academy community have recognized this sport. Other amazing sports such as soccer, football, volleyball, and cross country have had their fair share of wondrous spotlight. However, the swimming team within Athens Academy has not been given their well-deserved acknowledgement. 

Despite their small size, the team has been competing in regular meets every 2-3 weeks. In the past, individual members have also competed in the state finals. Last year two individuals represented the team and earned a high placement.

The swimmers on the team work hard and attend practices everyday with extreme dedication. Tracey Hill and Jeff Krosner work hard to train swimmers varying in technique and knowledge. No prior training or experience is needed to join the team and there is less pressure in comparison to other very competitive sports.

Sophomore Kartik Menke, a swimmer on the team, strongly agrees with this by stating, “I would encourage anyone to join the swim team because it doesn’t matter how fast or strong of a swimmer you are, practices and training can match where you are. Basically, all anyone needs to join the team is to be able to swim, and it’ll be fun.” 

As a former swimmer myself, I enjoyed the bond I made with my teammates from the swim team. The effort put into swimming in meets, practices, and even some games make swimming for the swim team a unique experience that cannot be replicated. Although I did not swim for Athens Academy, I know that my  coaches were always there for me and they were very compassionate and understanding of my personal life outside of practice, just like I know that Coach Tracey and Coach Jeff are for the members of the ACAD’s swim team.

In the future, with more individuals on the swim team, there is more anticipated success for future swim meets and in the upcoming state competition. There could be an even greater chance of placing as a team in comparison to before!