The girls swim and dive season started Monday, Nov. 18, and athletes are excited to get fully into the rhythm of the season before their first meet.
The team is coached by Whitney Nuci, who has been coaching for 12 years and served as head coach for Manitou for six years, and the dive coach, Lisa Korbitz, who has been coaching for 11 years and a coach for Manitou for two years.
This year’s season will be a bit different than typical years for the girls, as CHSAA has decreased the length of this season from eleven weeks to ten and they will be swimming at the Woodland Aquatic Center while the Manitou Pool and Fitness Center undergoes renovations.
Nuci believes that, even with the changes, the team won’t struggle too much this year. “The team always does really well at trying hard, learning quickly, and supporting each other,” Nuci said.
Swimmers have mixed feelings about swimming in Woodland Park, but they’re mostly feeling pretty positive about it. “It’s really interesting. I’d much rather be at our own home pool because it’s what we’re used to,” Cali Martinez, a returning sophomore said, “but I don’t think it really has that much of an effect on the team because we’re still practicing in a pool and getting better while working on what we need to.”
The team this year is larger than it has been in previous years, having closer to 20 athletes in comparison to the 11 girls on the team last year. With the increase in people, it is going to be a young team with a lot of new swimmers joining.
With the increase of new swimmers Nuci hopes they can be there for eachother and have positive attitudes. “They will need to really come together this year to support each other if they want to give the team the best results,” Nuci said.
Supporting the new swimmers will not be hard for the team, as they believe that connectivity and supporting each other is one of the strong suits of the team. “Our team does well in encouraging each other throughout the season and all building each other up,” Martinez said.
Having more new swimmers on the team could impact the teams ability to get relays to state. “Getting some relays to state may be difficult with how new the team is,” Korbitz said, “but with hard work getting them there is not out of reach.”
Athletes on the team say that their favorite part of swim season is the environment created. “The entire environment with swim, the coaches, the teammates, swim meets, the people you meet when traveling to different schools is really nice,” Martinez said.
The athletes and especially the coaches enjoy watching the team improve and meet the goals they set for themselves. “I love watching the growth of each individual athlete,” Korbitz said, “It is so encouraging to watch an athlete grow into their goals, especially when they feel like they may be at a standstill, and then watching them break through barriers.”
The athletes are hoping that they can continue to grow the team and get more engagement within the school and increase attendance at home meets. “I feel honored to be given the opportunity to support and celebrate with each athlete on the team,” Nuci said.
