Behind the scenes of state swimming

On Feb. 24 and 25, a select few members of Westside’s swim team will compete in Lincoln at the Bob Devaney sports center. Freshman Sam Kelly, sophomores Laina Bayles and Jackson Hanus, and junior Evan Thorell are excited to represent Westside and take on the rest of the Nebraska high school swimmers.

“I’m excited to win, well hopefully win,” Thorell said. “The atmosphere at state is fun too.”

The team has hopes to win the entire competition, but are after specific schools as well.

“I’m excited to beat Prep,” Kelly said.

As far as the girls team, their goal would be to beat Lincoln Southwest.

The swimmers have not only been getting ready for state by practicing hard in the water, they have also been following past traditions to get excited for the weekend.  

“The Tuesday before we dye our hair a color,” Hanus said. “Wednesday you cut your hair, and then Thursday night you shave the rest of it off.”

In order to be successful at the meet, all swimmers will need to push themselves harder than they ever have before.

“You know at State, when you hit the wall, you just keep going,” Thorell said. “When your eyes can’t see, and your legs are about to give up, that’s just the beginning.”

On top of the swimmer having to push themselves physically, there is a lot of pressure that comes with competing at state. Competing is difficult mentally as well.

“When I’m standing behind the blocks and I’m nervous and I’m trying to get relaxed, I just look at the crowd and see my friends,” Kelly said. “All my nerves go away and I just try to swim my best.”

Each swimmer has different ways to ignore the pressure and focus on reaching their personal goals.

“I try to think of this as any other meet, and just try to do my best,” Bayles said.

After coming back to swimming this year from being out with an injury last year, Thorell is more than ready to prove himself at state.

“To everybody on my club team who bet that I would quit swimming after my surgery, I’m back,” Thorell said.

Good luck to both the girls and boys swim teams at state this weekend! Students can follow the competition on Saturday at 11 a.m. on NE T.V.