Almost doubling its size from last year, the RHS Swim and Dive Team, with 64 members, has become RHS’ largest winter sports team for the 2007-2008 season, a remarkable accomplishment for a team that had only 34 members last year.
This surge in membership is part of a growing trend. Before coach Aaron Schwartz began coaching the team two years ago, swim team membership typically averaged about 20 members. During his first season as coach the team acquired 45 members, but ended the season with 34. For this season the number is double that.
The swim team’s size may have changed, but they still practice at the six-lane Gaithersburg Aquatics Center. That means there are about ten people in each lane during practice, and more in each lane on Mondays when dive team practices occupy two of the six lanes. Swim team captain senior Lauren Damone said, “[Our size] definitely makes practices a lot more difficult because we only have a certain amount of lanes in the pool.”
To help free up more pool space the swim team has divided their Monday practices into two groups. One group will work on dry land activities, such as sit-ups and push-ups, while the other group swims; then they switch.
Although practices may be cramped, the larger team size means there are more swimmers to choose from for meets. Junior and three year member of the team Paul Kitsoulis said, “You get a…[higher] likelihood of getting people who are really good at a specific event.” This increase in size also puts certain team members at a disadvantage. Kitsoulis said, “People will not be swimming as often because they have got a lot more people they have got to put in [meets].”
Coach Schwartz views the limited lineup differently. He said, “…with more competition within RHS, more of our swimmers will be motivated to work even harder.” To Coach Schwartz these benefits apply to the whole school. “I think the growth is a good thing for the entire school. The more active a student body, the more a school improves,” said Coach Schwartz.
One problem for a large team can be lack of team unity. To combat this issue the swim and dive team captains have planned team-bonding events. They try to do at least one team activity a week, or at least go out for a meal after each meet. Bonding events include team dinners and outings such as bowling.
