Students have several options for winter sports that allow them to stay inside, yet still fulfill their exercise needs in order to stay active when the world outside is covered in a white blanket of snow.

Artistic swimming may not be a popular sport, but it is an exciting winter sport for many. Artistic swimming however, isn’t a current Gallatin High School (GHS) sanctioned sport like basketball, wrestling, or competitive lap swimming. However, it’s another way to stay fit during the winter, stay out of the cold, and make some great new friendships.

Artistic swimming, or synchronized swimming as many call it, is where the swimmers compete as a team to a choreographed routine that is performed to music. Artistic swimming relies on synchronization with other swimmers as part of a team of two to eight, showing off and learning new skills, and overall, having fun with the team. Swimmers make a great community with each other and are like a family. The team is very close knit, cheers each other on, and helps each other deal with stress and anxiety.

Artistic swimmers have to be able to swim all the same strokes as the lap swimmers to help build muscles and stamina, but also have to be confident holding their breath for long periods of time while performing choreographed moves upside-down and underwater for long periods of time. According to New Jersey Swims, an artistic swimming website, artistic swimming helps increase lung capacity. Swimmers spend so much time underwater that their lung capacity increases and the body absorbs more air and makes better use of oxygen. Furthermore, artistic swimming can improve cardiovascular health. “Swimming improves the body’s use of oxygen without overworking the heart. This decreases the risk of coronary heart disease by 40%”, according to the New Jersey Swims website.

If artistic swimming doesn’t sound like your thing, several other winter sports are also offered as a good way to stay active during the cold winter months. GHS offers many different winter sports, including basketball, wrestling, and lap swimming. All offer great ways to be a part of a team and participate in mental and physical activity throughout the winter.

Wrestling athletes compete in one-on-one fighting matches, but are still part of a team. According to J.D McWalter, one of the freshman wrestlers, “The wrestling season is four weeks shorter than other sports’ seasons.” The season may be shorter, but wrestlers gain many of the same mental and physical benefits as those who participate in other winter sports. The first wrestling match was December 9th in Butte. The match continued through Saturday, the 10th, with girls wrestling in Flathead.

Basketball is another great winter sport. The basketball teams will play many teams from other schools as they compete for the best win record and hopefully victory at the state tournament each spring. Basketball consists of teams of 12-15 players with only five on the court at a time. In basketball, the five main positions to be played are point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center. Each requires different skill sets. The 2022-23 Basketball season with continue with girls playing Friday, January 13th at 7pm vs Skyview and boys team playing on Saturday, January 14th at 4pm against Senior.

GHS swimming takes place at the Bozeman Swim Center, right next door to Bozeman High School, and is a competitive sport, as swimmers race other swimmers to be the quickest. Various swimming races can be swam either as an individual or as a relay team. Raptor Swim Coach, Siobhan Gilmartin, speaks highly of this year’s crew. “I can honestly say this is the hardest working, kindest group of swimmers I have ever coached.”

Students who do not make the winter sports teams may try out for a different sport when the spring sports season has begun, or join a different school club to join, to do a fun activity during the cold winter months. No matter what sport or activity you participate in, it’s good to stay active both mentally and physically during the colder winter months so you can be ready to play and compete when the warmer months arrive.

Please visit the GHS page at ghs.bsd7.org and click on the activities tab. There you can find the schedules for future games for all winter sports. Notably, the wrestling state meets are on February 9-11th in Billings. The girls and boys basketball are both in Butte for State on March 9-11th. The swimming state meets are February, 10-11th in Great Falls. Furthermore, Speech and Debate will participate in their state tournament January 27-28th in Billings.