NPHS Swim team dives into competition
The NPHS swim team prioritizes repetition in practice in order to maintain success and accomplish their goals during this 2022 spring season.
Reese Bentley, sophomore, swims for the varsity team and has been swimming competitively since she was nine. Outside of the high school team, Bentley also swims for a club team. “I am more prepared and have had the exposure to long training sessions as well as meets that are back to back,” Bentley said. “It has allowed me to learn different skills and strategies from various coaches as well, and as a result of doing club in between seasons, I continue to see improvement in my times and stroke.”
Because she swims with club teams outside of school, Bentley has seen greater improvements which help her swimming for NPHS. “By swimming year round, you will see major differences in your times and technique. If I just go as much as 4-5 days with no practice, it is hard to keep up,” Bentley said. “That’s why club swim is beneficial to help maintain your endurance as well as stay active and continue to develop your stroke.”
Bentley swims with John de Vere, sophomore on the varsity team, who has been swimming for about eight years. De Vere swims for two club teams outside of high school, Daland Swim School and Horizon Swimming. “It definitely helped with falling in love with the sport and getting my core form down as well,” de Vere said.
De Vere’s motivation when it comes to swimming has a lot to do with breaking records as well as making friends. “I love the thrill of getting a new PR. That thrill is why you love swim. I also like the social part of it during and after meets going to dinner,” de Vere said.
Swimming has become important to de Vere over the years and he is now able to make it a priority. “It’s a source of happiness for me. I enjoy swim a lot and it brings me joy which brings importance and purpose to it,” de Vere said.
Thea Duc, senior, and captain of the varsity team, has been a part of the high school team for four years. “Being a captain, I love seeing all of the other people swim, so really just being with my friends and having fun competing, getting faster times, is how I stay motivated,” Duc said.
Duc’s biggest success in swim was during her junior season. “Last season, I dropped 17 seconds in my 500 free. The 500 is the distance event in high school and I’m the only girl consistently swimming it, so it was pretty awesome,” Duc said.
While practicing, Duc has a lot to think about in terms of bettering herself and performance. “So I’m injured, but I try to work on making sure I move through the motions correctly so I can swim for longer and not be in pain,” Duc said. “My favorite thing about practice is getting good distance sets. I like to ask for personalized sets so I can really work towards my own goals.”
During meets, Bentley tends to have a lot running through her mind. “I am of course nervous, hoping I don’t miss my event or get disqualified. But, I think of all the things I have worked on in practice with my coaches and apply that to my race. I also think of strategies for how I swim each particular event,” Bentley said.
