As fall sports near their end, winter sports are just beginning. One of these winter sports is Swimming. The Badin Swim Team began their first practice on Oct. 25 at the Mercy Healthplex. This year, there are 48 people on the team. Many of these people are completely new to swimming. The swim team at Badin is a very close-knit team. The team has a lot of special traditions. Some favorites are freeze outs on the bus, going to Larosas after the Lawrenceburg Meet, swim parties every Friday, and listening to Fireflies on every bus ride.

This year, the swim team has decided to name official team captains. All of the teammates voted and six captains were named. Colin Crank and Jackson Long were named the Senior Boy Team Captains. Paige Parrish and Sophie Tischler were named the Senior Girl Team Captains. Tommy Hogan and Tate Brandabur were named the Junior Team Captains.

Junior, Tommy Hogan, has been swimming for four years. His goal for the season is to make it to districts in his favorite stroke, backstroke.

“I am excited to lead the cheer and help design the t-shirts,” said Hogan.

Due to football still going on, Hogan is not able to attend practices yet, however he is excited to begin swim practices and maintain his position as team captain. Tommy’s favorite memory from swim are the parties every Friday.

Tate Brandabur, a junior, who has been swimming for 11 years, is excited to swim the 200 freestyle this year.

“I am definitely most excited about getting the team together more often outside of practices and meets. In the past years, we have had team dinners occasionally, but I want to have them more often in addition to other team bonding activities outside of the pool,” Brandabur said.

The only challenge Brandabur faces when it comes to being captain is getting all the different personalities on the team to work together. Her favorite memories are also the team dinners every Friday.

“ Swim has sent more athletes to State than any other sport in recent years, so everyone should come out and support the swim team at meets!”, added Brandabur.

Paige Parrish, a senior, who has been swimming since she was six years old, is looking forward to swimming breaststroke again this year.

“I am all about coming together, forming friendships with every single one of my teammates and I intend to do with the swim team just as I did with the cross country team,” said Parrish.

Paige loves reminiscing on all of the inside jokes over the years and her poolside Disturbia dance with Dom Siegel. Paige also remembers her original fly lane with fond memories.

“Personally, I will miss swimming and dancing in lane to six with Dom. We have so many inside jokes and the fact that we just take that lane to ourselves is pretty hilarious,” said Parrish.

Colin Crank, a senior, who has been swimming consistently since he was five years old, is looking forward to swimming the 100 butterfly his senior year. Crank has made it to districts all three years of high school so far, and he intends to continue this trend this year.

“I’m excited to get to know the whole team better. My goal is to create an even more tight-knit group that can become a great group of friends,” said Crank.

With 48 swimmers on the team, he knows that leading may be difficult at times, but Crank is confident in himself and his fellow captains.

“My favorite Badin swimming memory is the swim party at my house freshman year. Even though I was a quiet freshman, the seniors accepted me onto the team at the party,” said Crank.

As it is his senior year, Colin is going to miss a lot about the swim team. However, the thing he will miss the most is the people. The friendships that have been built at swim are very important to him.

Jackson Long, who has been swimming non-stop since he was five years old, is making it his goal to make it districts. His favorite event is the 100 breaststroke.

When asked about leading his team, Long said, “I’m excited to lead the swimmers through meets, practices and bus rides. I hope to be someone that everyone respects.”

He wants to make sure that the new swimmers are included and that everyone on the team can get to know each other. Long remembers his freshman year, when he had an hour long pong game with his fellow teammates.

“The biggest thing I’m going to miss is all my teammates. All my fellow seniors, underclassmen, and the past seniors,” said Long.

In addition to our team captains, there are a lot of swimmers that belong to club teams as well as Badin. Brandon Burke, who has been swimming for eight years, is looking forward to swimming the 1000 free this year. His goal is to make the national cut in this event. He enjoys swimming, because of the people and the escape it gives him from life.