The Plainwell High School women’s swim and dive team has won every dual meet so far this season. The season has been extremely successful because of exceptional swimmers such as Sydney Harper, Sadie Boven, and Ella Way.
Harper making state has been no surprise to those who have seen her swim. She comes from a family of athletes, her brother swimming for Ohio State University. Harper mentioned how fun it is to be part of the state meets, because the team hangs out together and has a good time. To achieve her results, she emphasized her long years of swimming, and her additional training outside of school with other coaches; these hours were essential for her to achieve her goals. In reference to Harper’s beloved fellow swimmers, she says, “I’m happy with the results of the team; we won most of our meets and we are united as a team,”
In addition, Harper shared her routine in relation to training, which takes place daily. Harper swims not only in the fall, but every season, which means she has a different routine than the other girls on the team. She is released from school every day after the fourth hour, and uses this time to prepare herself for training. Finally, she mentioned about the benefits that swimming brought her, saying how fun it is for her to have a unified team and to have made friends within the sport.
Way became interested in swimming at a young age, beginning the sport at only nine years old. Since then, she has continued to be passionate about swim. Not only does she love it, but she speaks very highly of her team, “The team is really close; we are having a good time working together, and our season is going pretty good. We like and encourage each other,”
Regarding her training and swim routine, Way pointed out that sometimes, it’s intense and heavy; they train daily, with the exception of weekends, for a period of around two hours. However, the benefits that swimming brought her are greater than any difficulties she has faced. factors such as muscle gain, obtaining energy, and obtaining strength and agility are just some of the improvements the sport has brought into her life. Finally, when asked about the season’s predictions, Way believes the team will come in second place, because despite being hard working, the team is maintaining the same results and performance of the previous year.
Boven started her swim career early; at just 5 years old Boven was already part of the swimming world. The motive? She was influenced by her friend who swam at the time, and has remained invested in the sport ever since. When asked about the team’s work, Boven says she is proud of the results and the team’s community. She thinks even though the team has things to improve, they are doing an exceptional job. Regarding the season predictions, Boven agrees with Way that they will win second place. Boven believes the benefits of swimming on her life to be great, not forgetting the importance of the friendships she built within the team, and the physical strength the sport brings her.
All three girls agreed that their most difficult competition would be the Allegan team, their biggest rival at the moment. The girls are confident in the team’s work and unity, and believe their overall results will reflect that. Of course, as in any sport, there is still room for improvement, for what is life without growth?