Despite the loss of one of their coaches less than three weeks ago, the Boys Swimming and Diving team approach Sectionals with high aspirations.

“We’ve had a lot of bumps in the road this season and they keep handling it well. They just keep pushing on,” head coach Michelle Meyer said. “They have been doing a really good job of keeping their goals and focus and keeping them in sight.”

A refreshing overabundance of energy (usually a reflection of a successful reduction of workload in preparation for high performance) suggests these aspirations will soon become reality.

“They have a really good training base to come down off of and they are looking pretty good this week,” Meyer said.

Meyer typically handles the diving side of both the girls and boys teams; however, due to events causing the assistant coach, Ryan Burroughs, to step down, Meyers has had to handle both sides for the latter part of the season.

“She has done really well at taking over Ryan’s position and being really enthusiastic about keeping us going,” first time member junior Kyle Johnson said.

By sticking to the normal training plan and with the help of senior leadership the team has been taking the difficult change as well, learning to adapt as needed.  

“Collin (Brady) has been making sure we don’t lose track of time and get into the water when we need to,” sophomore Anthony Williamson said. “Nolan’s (Simmons) been… just being Nolan. Goofing around and keeping us happy throughout practice.”

The team’s success thus far is due to this healthy balance of enjoyment and focus.

“They’re very much like past teams in the sense that they work hard,” Meyers said. They are unlike past teams in the fact they have a great sense of humor. Which is important in breaking the hard training and keeping it fun.”

As for this weekend, the team will continue to bring concentration, humor, and the tenacity shaped by the season’s adversity into Sectionals, characteristics that should give the team the upper hand.

“We’re still going to go for it at sectionals,” Johnson said. “We’re going to go swim hard at sectionals and swim hard at state. That’s what Ryan would want us to do.”