The girls’ swim team finished a successful season, with swimmers placing high individually as well as in relay events.
“We did really well as a whole team this year,” Ashley Balda, junior, said. “We got a lot of new incoming freshman and they did really well.”
At conference, freshmen Lauren Budzki and Trisha Balda, and juniors Kelly Rozak and Ashley Balda placed sixth in the 200 medley relay. Kelly Rozak placed 6th at sectionals. Ashley Balda placed fourth at conference and third at sectionals, landing her a spot in the state finals.
“This season was definitely harder than last season,” Balda said. “There was more competition.”
Beth Petrovic, senior, says morning practices three days a week were the biggest help this season because it gave the team more opportunities to prepare for meets. Since most girls swim with a club,0 too, many girls were swimming twice a day.
“High school general [qualifying] times are more competitive,” Petrovic said. “If you want to make state, you have to work your butt off and work really hard, so practicing sometimes twice a day really helped.”
Not only did the practices help the girls improve, it also helped them strengthen team bonds. They also had pasta parties before big meets, and made their own t-shirts instead of purchasing them at the meets.
“Swimming’s an individual sport, but you get so excited for everyone else,” Petrovic said.
Petrovic and Balda agree that the team was very close this year. Petrovic says that she and her teammates are all very different but they are still a family.
“Even if we don’t know each other very well, we’re still there supporting each other,” Balda said.
Adding to this family idea, Balda’s younger sister, Trish, joined the high school swim team this year.
“Having each other there, even if we do bad or really good, it’s always someone you can count on being there,” Balda said.
Balda says that having her sister on the team helped her perform well this season and greatly helped her overall.
While the season may have ended, the girls’ practice has not, as many of them practice year-round to stay on top of their game.