UC High’s Swim Team is coming into the season with high energy and intensity, focusing on team bonding and setting new records.
All the athletes are very excited for what’s in store this season. Senior Captain Corrie Dudley said, “I am really looking forward to seeing new and returning faces, having fun at meets and practices, and getting closer as a team. I am also super excited for our end-of-season meets where we get to see everyone racing and, based off previous seasons, a lot of people getting their best times.” She added, “This season I know that we are focused a lot on team bonding and getting to know all the athletes on the team and just creating a great environment for everyone.”
Head Coach Cassie Phillips has been coaching competitive swim since 2016, and is currently in her third season at UC High. She intends to keep the team strong both physically and mentally. “I am looking forward to laughing and growing with my team. I believe that athletes thrive when they are having fun and my goal this season is truly just to enjoy each moment,” said Phillips. “As a team, we are trying to cheer more, push each other more during tough sets, and improve technique and racing strategies,” she added.
This year, the team is adjusting to the loss of some key players, but their numbers have increased a lot compared to last season. “We lost a great swimmer this year because she graduated last year but with a much larger Swim Team this year, I’m excited to see how our team will do at the championship meets with more people to score,” said Senior Captain Sophia Knowles. “It’s no surprise that we lost a key player for our team and our guys team took a hit too, but I am confident that we will still be able to perform well when it comes to our end-of-season meets like CIF. We have an amazingly strong girls team with key swimmers in each stroke and our guys team is strong in the sprint events, which is mainly what high school swim is about,” added Dudley.
The main events every season are the end-of-year meets, including State Championships and CIFs. “Last year at CIF’s, our girls placed second and our boys placed fifth. I hope to place higher on both sides and to also get our swimmers to States again,” said Phillips. Senior Captain Molly Ryan added, “Personally, I’m hoping to get top 5 in my events at CIF, as well as qualifying a relay for the States Meet. Team-wise, I hope we can work to have even more CIF qualifiers than last year and hopefully make this season a memorable experience for everyone.” Senior Storme Higgins said, “We are all trying to set new personal bests for our events in preparation for CIFs.” Dudley said, “I am hoping to qualify for the State Championship or to win an event at CIF, but as a team, I would love to be able to compete at States with at least one relay, hopefully with our team having some recognition at the State level.”
The team is working hard to achieve these goals, practicing five days a week. Dudley said, “We typically do 40 minutes to an hour of a captain-lead dryland before hopping in the pool for another hour of some in-water conditioning and technique work.” Phillips added, “Mondays are kick days, Tuesdays are pace days, Wednesdays are stroke days, Thursdays are race days and Fridays are IM [individual medley] days.”
“We have a larger team this year and we also have more captains this year to help out with more team bonding as well as practices and meets. I look forward to all of the memories we make along the way this season, especially with the greater number of student-athletes,” said Phillips.