Both the boys’ and girls’ swim teams find themselves well over 0.500 halfway through the season after a dismantling of Richard Montgomery High School in a duel meet Saturday night, Jan. 11. The girls’ team has maintained their dominance with a 5-0 record while the boys’ team has gone undefeated since losing to Whitman in the first meet of the season.
The RM meet strengthened the thesis that has been heard around the county: WJ Swim and Dive is the team to beat. This year’s team has featured numerous breakout stars, record times and cheers as WJ swimmers keep finding themselves at the top of the podium.
However, the team will have to keep the momentum going as they face a tough second half of the schedule. They face rival and reigning Boys Metros’ champion Churchill this Saturday and then compete in the Metro Championships in three weeks.
“We definitely need to get the team more excited and hype,” senior captain Addison Pollitt said. It’s hard to get everyone together at one time, so we need to find ways to get more outings.”
With the postseason on the horizon, the season is at a turning point as both teams want to leave a lasting impact on the WJ swim and dive program.
“We only have two [more] dual swim meets, and then we’re getting into the postseason, so it gets to be a little bit more training and focused more on competition,” swim and dive coach Jamie Grimes said. “We’re starting to ramp up. I think the team needs to come together and focus on what their goals are and how they’re going to achieve them.”
Even with dreams set big, the season hasn’t been all smooth sailing. The team found themselves in a close call against Whitman, where the girls’ team prevailed with a narrow two-point victory, and the boys’ team came up short. Even with their back to their wall, the team continues to just keep swimming.
“The first meet was rough because we didn’t really have all our swimmers, but throughout the year, we have worked better as a team, had better attendance, and then we’ve just overcome those challenges,” freshman Lachlan Bartholomew said.
What has helped them get the final edge in the close meets are the stars of the team. Countless times again, the same names of Isla Bartholomew, Maddie Simmons and Eleanor Saybolt for the girls’ side and Luc Dionne, Noah Potter and Owen Friedman for the boys’ side have come up on the score sheet with podium finishes.
Along with stars making waves across the pool, the team’s chemistry has gotten stronger throughout the season. As initial nerves have settled, the team has started to find their groove.
“It’s hard at first to get freshmen to come out of their shells, but once they kind of get more comfortable on the team and realize they can be themselves, it’s gotten better, especially for other grades,” Pollit said.
Freshmen on the team have stood out, especially captain Isla Bartholomew’s younger brother, Lachlan. Lachlan has thrived, landing in the top 10 all-time list at WJ in the 200 freestyle.
“I was surprised [to place on the list],” Lachlan Bartholomew said. “There are a lot of great names on that list. I’m proud of myself, and I know I can do better and keep getting faster.”
In addition to the two swim teams, dive Captain Kai Lawson has continued to prove why he is one of the best divers in the county.
“I think diving is generally overlooked because it’s only one event, and swimming has all those other events,” Lawson said. “The dive season has gone pretty well for me, I did a lot of new things. I placed first at a lot of meets even though I messed up at some of them, which is pretty cool.”
All the pieces of the puzzle will have to come together as the two teams make a push towards a state championship in a few weeks. Saturday’s meet against the Bulldogs at Martin Luther King Jr. Swim Center at 5:15 p.m.
