Half of the swim team this year consists of new swimmers who have never swam for Weber before. This means not only does the team have to wake up extra early every morning for their 5 a.m. practices at Ben Lomond pool, but those new swimmers have to work extra hard to improve.
“Now there’s 49 kids on the team and 25 of them have never swam for Weber High,” swim coach Henderson Bird said. “It’s pretty much a brand new team.”
Along with a new team comes new challenges. But through gaining patience and growing as a swimmer, swimmers also expand their social zone and get to know the other swimmers.
“It brings some challenges like being able to have patience,” junior Camden Law said. “It’s a fun challenge as well though because you get to meet new people, as well and get out of your comfort zone, and get to know people you didn’t know before.”
Another challenge the swimmers have is their practice times. Most of the swimmers wake up around 4:20 a.m. and they must be ready and at the pool at 5:20 a.m.
“The schedule for most swimmers is they wake up around 4:20 to 4:30 every morning, they get to the pool by 5:10,” Bird said. “We do a quick morning meeting at 5:15, we hop in the pool around 5:20, and we do different types of warm ups and drills. They’re done in the pool around 6:50.”
Coach Bird has been coaching for a total of seven years.
“This is my fourth year as the head coach,” Bird said. “I spent three years as an assistant before that.”
Coach Bird makes sure the team is mostly focused on technique. He differs from other coaches by claiming that doing the technique correctly is just as good as going for speed.
“I’m a very technique-oriented coach,” Bird said. “A lot of other coaches are very much so about sprint-sprint-sprint, power-power-power, but I have very much of a mindset that I like my swimmers to get the technique down.”
Juniors Ainsley Jessop and Camden Law share their experiences with swimming and how it got them to where they are now.
“Both of my siblings did swimming so I grew up with it,” Jessop said. “I’ve been doing it for a long time and I kept doing it because I really enjoyed it.”
Law gives all credit to his former coaches. He has tried multiple different sports and swimming has stuck with him.
“I strive personally to be able to hit top five at state this year for the 100 meter freestyle, possibly the 50 meter freestyle too,” Law said.
Jessop said while she has her own personal goals, as a team, they want to try to make it to state.
“Personally I just try to do better than I was last year or from the last meet, so I just try to focus on myself or critique myself after each race.” said Ainsley Jessop, “We all just try to practice as hard as we can and try to be better than other teams. As a team I think we just want to get as many people as we can to qualify at region meets.”
Swimming has changed some of the swimmers’ lives, allowing them to learn different techniques, develop new relationships, and race for personal goals.
“I met Nate Toll, he was the club coach for Pirranah and he still is, and he basically became my second father,” Law said. “He definitely helped me get to where I am today. I definitely have him to thank for that, he’s taught me so much about technique and my stroke. He also just cares genuinely about me.”
The team had their first meet on Thursday, Oct. 13 at Ben Lomond pool. They hope to do their best and have prepared every morning to be able to make those goals a reality for themselves. Their mindsets shift to believe more in themselves and their team.
“I love the inclusivity of swim,” Law said. “Anyone can do it as long as you have the right mindset about it, which is what I love, because life is all about the mindset.“
