Did you know a hippo can swim up to 20 miles per hour in water? Yeah, Fiona is fast. You know what else is fast? This year’s Harrison Swim Team!
If you’ve been watching What’s Up, Wildcats or seen some of the updates on the Harrison High School Athletics website, you would know that the Swim Team is breaking numbers. Two records have been broken by Sophia Stinson and about sixteen swimmers have moved into or improved on their spot on the top ten of the fastest swims per swimming event. When asked if the Swim Team has broken this many records in the past, Swim Coach Mike Brossart said, “This could be the most in one season since we started the team in 2001.”
But how did the Swim Team accomplish this? Brossart said that this is most likely due to a few factors that worked together. First, the weight and strength training programs at Harrison are highly effective, leading to stronger athletes who become faster swimmers. Second, this cohort of students has a good vibe, with lots of healthy competition among swimmers to be the best they can be pushing students to swim faster than they thought they could. Thirdly, students are making swim a year round part of their life, with a few swimmers realizing that in order to improve their skills, they need to participate in a summer swim program. And lastly, these athletes got an earlier start because of the junior high starting a swim program a few years ago. This junior high swim club has greatly benefitted the high school team, with the coaches Lesley Fette and Justin Poettker pushing their young athletes to develop the skills they have needed to excel when they get to high school.
The high school coaching is also a part of this year of success, with several dedicated coaches going above and beyond to help students. However, Brossart is quick to share the praise. “The coaching that these swimmers are getting from Coach Justin Stinson and Coach Josh Locke has been huge.” He also reiterated the importance of the coaches for the jr. high swim team, and the great job they have been doing getting the seventh and eighth graders ready for the high school swim season.
At the SWOC championship last week, these swimmers ended the season with 51 personal record swims and 8 season best swims. With the season over, and because of the hard work of the student athletes and the diligent coaching of the staff advisors, the future is bright for the Harrison Swim Team.
