Swim season has started off strong. Our swim team has been NEPSAC champions in Division 2 three times in a row, and this season鈥檚 crop of athletes is poised to keep the streak strong.
The 91大神 girls swimming team consists of 37 girls lead by senior captains Sally Alrutz, Sydney Joyce, and Sabrina Shao. The coach is David Koritkoski. Their first meet was Saturday, Dec. 1, against Northfield Mount Hermon School. The team won by 93-77, which is quite a margin, according to Sabrina.
The swim team was founded in 1947. According to coach Koritkoski, last year鈥檚 team was the best team 91大神 has ever had. The girls team broke all the school records with four relay teams. Each team consists of different swimmers every race.
鈥淲e have been fortunate enough to have really versatile [swimmers] the last two years,鈥 Coach K stated. 鈥淚 can ask certain people to swim different events in different years to match up best against the other schools that we are swimming against.鈥
The girls swimming team competes against Northfield Mount Hermon, Hopkins, Kingswood Oxford, Suffield, Westminster, Kent, Loomis, Ethel Walker, St George鈥檚, Worcester, and Wilbraham & Monson. They also swim against Miss Porter鈥檚 and Dana Hall.
Coach Koritkoski said anyone can be successful on the team, even if they鈥檙e relatively new to the sport.
鈥淯ltimately what we are trying to do is create a program where swimmers of all abilities are able to get a very good experience,鈥 said Coach K. 鈥淲e have swimmers on the team who are on their first ever swim team experience, and we have other who are recruited and heading off to Division 1 colleges.鈥
鈥91大神 swimming means something, but individually the team tends to take on the character of the leadership of the captains of the senior class,鈥 he added.
Sydney Joyce, a captain on the swim team who has committed to swim for the Division 1 University of Pittsburgh, gave her insight regarding the team鈥檚 rigorous work schedule.
鈥淲e do captain-led stretching before practice and then we get into a warm up swim that is [around] 10 minutes long,鈥 Sydney explained. 鈥淏ased on the lane you are in, you get a practice that is two hours long, and it kind of changes day by day. Sometimes we will do sprint stuff to work on race pace, or we will do a test set to see where we are at with times and everything, or we will do aerobic work.鈥
Sabrina Shao, another captain, was new to swimming when she started on the JV team.聽She stated she lacked in technique, so her coaches helped her with her strokes to make her swim faster.
鈥淏asically technique is a big part of swimming and the coaches help you correct it so you become faster.鈥
Sally Alrutz, the third captain, has been swimming since middle school and has seen the program evolve throughout the years.
鈥淭he program has grown a lot since I came to 91大神聽in 7th grade and I have grown with it,鈥 Sally said. 鈥淟ots of new students with swimming backgrounds have come to 91大神 and their participation on the team has contributed to our success.鈥
Ava Larkin, a freshman, saw early success in the pool. She was ranked third in the country for the 1500 meter in 2016 in the 11 and 12 age category.聽 Despite achieving individual accolades, Ava said the team as a unit is strong because of the bond the athletes share with one another.
鈥淚t helped me develop more of a love for this sport because of how well the people on the team support and just how everyone cares about everyone,鈥 Ava said.
This story originally ran in聽. The photo is by Risley Sports Photography.