Swim Team Keeping Morale Up
In the midst of the pandemic and the chaos it brings, the swim team has found a way to respond to all of the arising problems and keep the team’s morale up.
Coach Tony Hagen said just being at practice like normal is a great way to relieve some of the stress from this chaotic season
“By trying to keep things as consistent as we have, the hope is that the pool becomes their normal, in a time when things definitely aren't normal,” Hagen said. “Physical exertion is a great stress reliever. I jokingly say that they are too tired to be stressed.”
In past seasons, the team has carried out traditions and certain outings as team building and bonding moments. This year, though some changes have been made, the team strives to always cheer each other on.
Cheering for one another and supporting each other is a huge part of being on the Hartford-Slinger swim team.
“The team itself isn’t struggling to include it’s newest members. This program has a long history of strong leaders in the upper class and a genuine desire to help the newer members of the time,” Hagen said. “Whether you are a Senior, on down to a Freshman walking in, you have a chance to be a contributor to this team.”
Freshman Addison Hagen, with this being her first season being on the swim team, was pleasantly surprised to find such a supportive team.
“No matter what we have girls cheering each other on at each event and it’s just a really cool experience,” Hagen said.
In the hype up or the cool down surrounding the meet itself, the team rides together on a bus. Hagen recalls the bus rides as important bonding moments.
“On our way to one of our meets we were playing some old Disney and movie songs and it was just really fun.” said Hagen.
Hagen is excited “to just see all of our hard work through the season pay off and see how far we've come.” She’s looking forward to the big JV conference at the end of the season and the promise of progress.
This year proposes some unique challenges that the coaches and team alike have had to overcome. The most obvious being the mask mandate.
The coaches have had to get creative in dealing with these mandates, which were put in place by Governor Tony Evers until Nov. 21 and will cover the full swim season.
In an attempt to follow these guidelines as best as the team could, when in the water the athletes are split into groups and spread throughout the pool. When doing their “dryland” training, additional training done outside of the pool, the team goes outside and socially distances as best as they can in an effort to keep the masks off.
Coach Hagen said his reasoning for keeping the team members socially distant instead of wearing masks. “Any form of physical exertion is difficult. Add something that restricts airflow and it makes it even harder,” Hagen said. Despite this, the team is still required to wear their masks when doing their pre-work out stretching.
Hagen is quick to point out that scores in swimming are more individually based. Swim is scored by times, personal records on how fast they can swim a particular race. The most important times are recorded at the end of the year at Sectionals and State.
Both Coach Hagen and Addison Hagen are looking forward to these end of the year meets and seeing how much improvement this team has accomplished despite the chaos and abnormality around them.
