Jumping off the blocks into the cold water, boys’ and girls’ swim and dive begin their warm up set to kick off practice. With only one meet the past two weeks, the team has been preparing for the Hamilton Southeastern High School meet tomorrow.

“It’s one of our first meets that’s competitive to a scale that we can actually compete with,” Charlie Olmstead, senior and captain, said. “We have a meet with Penn early on in the season, but there are multiple factors that don’t make it the same.”

Because the Hamilton meet is mid-season, it’s a “good time to test how our progress has been,” according to Olmstead. The meet allows the team to work for their best times with a reasonable amount of pressure.

“We get to suit up,” Jasmine Wegman, senior, said. Suiting up, wearing their best race suits, helps swimmers to get fast times. “It gives me a chance to go for my best times in the middle of the season.”

Hamilton also gives the divers more chances to dive their best.

“It’s the first 11 dive meet of the season, the rest are usually 6,” Jeorgia Garcia, junior, said.

The seahorses say they are there for each other even when the races don’t turn out the way they hoped.

“I’m really hard on myself (after a bad race),” Karina Fields, freshman, said. “I’ve been working on going to my teammates and having them help me. They’ll help me if I’m feeling bad, but if I did something then they won’t sugarcoat it. They hold me accountable.”

The bonds keep the team strong and encourage the best for the group. Individual wins matter, but the team’s races together add to make a win.

“I love that we can quote each other,” Addi Sanow, senior and captain, said. “We have a lot of inside jokes, I feel like that brings us together a lot.”