Among the most rigorous sports to be offered at the high school level, the swim team is a great way to get active in a different environment. A sport that many attending Wilsonville haven’t seen in action at full throttle, swim competitions can be the most competitive and thrilling out of OSAA’s umbrella.
Opting to start practices and competitions in November, there isn’t much preparation time between the two. The team faced a rough turnaround, starting the season with their first competition just two weeks before their first practice. So, how do Wilsonville’s swim athletes prepare for the harsh cardio in the coming months?
“The key to finding success is focusing on the strokes you are most successful in,” stated junior Conrad Widing. “Practicing specific strokes can help isolate your strengths from your weaknesses and is a surefire way of maintaining success.” A veteran on the team, Widing has seen it all out on the water, serving as one of the foundational pieces on this year’s team.
What do swim events look like? Following a similar structure to track and field, each stroke has a distance that goes with it, and they cycle through each event as the competition goes on. “It’s very orderly; it just flows very naturally,” added Widing. With such a resemblance to a track and field meet, swim competitions also reflect that model in the types of races and distances.
OSAA’s swim competitions feature four different strokes: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and fly. Each of these is featured in a specific set of distances that cover as short as fifty yards and as long as five hundred yards.
Steering away from competitions and more towards the physical aspect of the sport, swimming is by far one of the most mentally and physically draining sports out there, with Widing quoting it as “intense.” This seems to be the feeling around the whole team, with junior Aarush Palve keeping it brief in his agreement with his teammate Widing. “Yeah, you work just as hard as any sport.”
With districts just a few weeks away, the team is kicking into full gear to finish the season strong. Only two meets are left on the schedule, both against division rivals, so we can expect intense competition between La Salle and Hillsboro to finish the season.