From morning practices to school to afternoon practices, the life of a swimmer is very busy from November to February. Though when it is time to hang up the towel at the end of the season, swimmers have a lot to reflect on.

Boys Season in Review

Seniors Ben Kerby, Colin Oltman and Nick Gross were the captains for the boys team. Their job was to make sure the team stayed motivated while having fun at the same time.

“At the beginning of the year we hone our skills and work on technique and endurance,” Gross said. “Once we get that down our coach [Doug Krecklow] writes down state times and what times it’s going to take to state finals.”

Krecklow posted the state times on the wall for motivation so that everyday, each swimmer had a goal in their head of what they had to achieve and knew how fast they needed to go.

With all of the hard work, boys swim team had a great start to their season by beating Elkhorn in their first meet.

“This was a good win for us because we were able to start our season off strong,” Kerby said.

One of the biggest wins for the boys team was the Warrior Invite. The Warriors hosted 11 teams and the boys team finished in first place.

One thing both swim teams did this season was the Do it For Lisa Campaign. This campaign was to help raise money for Lisa’s struggle with bone cancer. During a swim meet both teams wore t-shirts, signs, and other types of gear.

“We did it for her so that was memorable and really nice,” Gross said.

As the season came towards an end, each swimmer was motivated to work hard towards making it to state.

“Even though we didn’t do as well as we hoped during state, our season as a whole went really well.”

Girls Season in Review

For senior Elizabeth Amato-Hanner, captain of the girls swimming and state champion in the 100 meter backstroke, motivation and hard work were the driving forces for the team’s success.

“Right before high school season started I had a really good 100 backstroke at Millard West for club,” Amato-Hanner said. “I dropped which if it were to have been season, I would have actually broken my state time again, which made it really promising.”

Throughout the season the team looked for ways to improve their speeds, times and ways to close off races by improving every day.

“In the past, I haven’t necessarily had the closing speed at the end of my races, even though I didn’t get the touch out in the 100 fly, or the time that I wanted in the 100 backstroke,” Amato-Hanner said. “It was nice for that to come back to me, because in the past I would become very tired and not be able to reach the wall. But now being able to reach the wall the whole way is a big accomplishment.”

Amato-Hanner works towards swimming at Kansas University by training hard all season. Despite her hard work, at state, she was seeded 2nd in both of her events. To add to the pressure, Amato-Hanner’s state record time in the 100-meter backstroke was broken the day before.

“On Saturday, I didn’t do very well in the 100 fly, by placing 2nd again. Then in the 100 back, someone the day before had broken my state record time,” Amato-Hanner said. “The next day, I came back wanting to win my race with increasing my closing speed, which actually helped me win my race.”

Although, Amato-Hanner was not the only girls swimmer to find success at the state meet.

Other notable finished include

a 6th place finish by Freshman Laina Bayles in the 500 yard freestyle and a 7th place finish for the 200 yard medley relay team consisting of Elizabeth Amato-Hanner, Shay Snow, Sammi Baker and Peyton Stover.

Overall, the girl’s finished off their season placing 7th at the state meet.