Laps, laps, and more laps. That’s what the girls’ swim team has been doing since August. Most people probably don’t realize all of the hard work that goes into competitive swimming. When people think about swimming what usually comes to mind is laying in the pool on a hot summer day, but to the team members here at Wauwatosa West, swimming takes on a whole new form. Every day the girls have been working hard in the pool trying to beat their previous times. All of this hard work has paid off though, and the girls have had an extremely successful season.
Starting with the first meet, the team began winning non-stop. They beat schools such as Whitnall, South Milwaukee, New Berlin Eisenhower, Greenfield, and Greendale. They ended up being nearly undefeated in the conference season. The only time they lost was at their meet against Shorewood. It all came down to a single point and the meet ended with a score of 92 to 91. Beside that meet though, the girls have beaten teams by over 50 points multiple times.
All of this winning didn’t stop with regular season meets. The team’s success led them to be Black Division Champions and also Conference Relay Champions. The Junior Varsity team also won their Conference meet.
There are many good swimmers that make up West’s girls’ swim team. One of the senior captains, Lexi Utech, broke the school record for the 200 Individual Medley (IM) and the 100 Backstroke. She went to the State meet in Madison for both of these events, placing 11th and 4th and respectively. She was also a member of West’s team for the 400 Free Relay race. Utech is extremely proud of the other girls. She says, “I’m so glad that we’re going to have a relay this year. We’ve been trying to get one to state since my sophomore year, and it’s nice to have the chance to be a part of one before I graduate.”
This year, as a freshman, Anna Larson became an important asset to the team. She broke the record for the 200 Free and the 500 Free. She headed to State in both the 200 and 100 Free, placing 9th and 8th respectively. Rachel Stuberg and Allie Welsh also competed at state. Welsh and Stuberg be joined Larson and Utech in the 400 Free Relay race. This group placed 9th at State and also won sectionals for the same event.
The girls are very proud of how the season turned out. Another of the senior captains, Monica Wojnowiak, said, “This was such a fabulous season for our team. Even though I didn’t qualify for state, I’m proud to support the four very talented girls that have.” Senior swimmer Alex Lindstrom has similar feelings. “We have accomplished much more this season than we ever thought was possible. I’m very proud of all my girls.”
Even though there are three seniors leaving the team, with the strengths brought to the team by this year’s freshmen and the already existing strengths from other lower classmen, hopefully the team can pull off another successful season next year.
