Sink or Sing
An inside look at the Girls’ Swim Team at the high school and how they get through the long season and swims, while also highlighting the impact Vanessa Calderon has left on the program.
Lanie Weikert, '23
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The Girls’ Swim season begins in the heat of summer in July, and ends at the beginning of winter in November. With one of the longest sports seasons at the high school, the girls definitely have their ways of pushing through to the end of the season.
Hadley Hilbrant, a junior on the swim team said, “My favorite thing about swimming is the team. I love my teammates with all my heart and can honestly say that this has been the best team dynamic in my high school swimming career.”
Maya Simspon, a freshman waits on the block for the race to start. Photo courtesy of Fiona Glynn.
Most of the girls on the team have been swimming for a long time, and have gotten into the sport for different reasons.
Maya Simpson, a freshman on the swim team said, “I started swimming when I was seven years old, my parents swam in high school so they really wanted me to try it.”
Swimming is a physically and mentally demanding sport, so the girls rely on each other a lot for moral support in and out of the pool. The girls host team dinners, hangout during swim meets, and finally sing songs in their head to get through the long swims.
Vanessa Calderon, the lone senior on the swim team stated, “When I am swimming long distances I usually am singing in my head just random songs.”
Similarly, Maya added, “When I swim long distances I usually end up repeating lines from songs in my head until I'm done.”
Despite a lot of the individuality of swimming, these three swimmers can find common ground through their strategies of getting through a long race.
On top of singing in their head, the team have different superstitions to ensure a smooth running meet.
Hadley said, “Cheez-Its’ are the go to snack on the team. While we watch diving the whole team sits on the edge of the pool and eats Cheez-Its. If one falls into the pool we scoop up the wet Cheez-It and line it up with a tile on the deck (the snack fits perfectly).”
As odd as it seems, everyone has something, big or small, that helps them compete at their best. Some people believe their superstitions to actually work, while others think of them as a placebo effect. Whether or not superstitions do work, Vanessa has her routine on meet days.
The swim team watching the divers, while sitting on the edge of the pool, of course, eating Cheez-its. Photo courtesy of Fiona Glynn.
She said, “I've gotten better at not having as many superstitions, but the ones I still have are not eating during the meet, maybe water and Gatorade here or there but no food. I also have the same person put my cap on for every event I swim.”
One of the interesting things about Vanessa and the swim team this year is she’s the only senior competing. In years past, the team has had more than a few seniors, for example, last year they had ten swimmers.
Vanessa Calderon, senior, posing after a swim meet this season. Photo courtesy of Vanessa Calderon.
Vanessa shared, “Being the only senior is not how I imagined my last year of swimming to be, but even though I am the only one, the girls don’t make me feel like I’m alone. … and on senior night being the only name called was kind of awkward with the whole audience watching me the entire time.”
The girls on the team truly do cherish Vanessa and her contributions to the team throughout the years, and will be sad to see her go.
Maya said, “I also just want to acknowledge Vanessa, she is one of the best swimmers and human-beings. I wish her the best in her post high school goals and I love her so much. She is one of the nicest people I know and I am so grateful to know her and have gotten to swim a season with her."
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