Starting Friday, February 28, the Westside girls and boys swimming teams will compete in the NSAA State Swimming Championships. The meet will be held in Lincoln at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Qualified swimmers will compete against others in the same event to see who can get the best times to move on in te meet and get points for their teams. To qualify for an event, swimmers must reach or beat a certain time, depending on the event prior to state. Both the girls and boys have multiple swimmers that will compete at state. Senior Katelyn Allen says she and the team have been training for the state meet all season long.

“We started our taper a little while ago which basically means we are going down in yards and intensity to be ready to swim fast on Saturday,” Allen said. “However, this is the meet we’ve trained for since November. As a team we have been doing cybers before practice once a week. Cybers are relaxation sessions where we focus on body relaxation and visualization. One of the keys of swimming is to remain calm while swimming. It really does help.”

Both of the Warrior teams have had a very successful year so far and are hoping to keep it going.  Freshman Kaden Guzman talked about the goal for the meet and what they need to do to achieve it. 

“Our goal is to win state and my goal is to help my team get there,” Guzman says. “I think our team has to have a proper mindset to win. We are a great group and I’m excited to start state with everyone on my team. We need to get lots of rest, eat right, and show up Friday and Saturday prepared.”

The state meet will take place Friday and Saturday after the diving portion of the meet was on Thursday.