Tightly tucking hair strands into her cap, Kate Motl ’25 steps out from the locker room and walks across the tiles as she readies herself for the upcoming moment. Fastening her goggles around her head, she crouches and firmly grips her fingers onto the starting board. With the blow of a whistle, she dives headfirst into the water. 

Ever since Head Coach Aryton Kasemets began coaching the girls swim team five years ago, the team has continuously grown. Last year the team had 90 swimmers, while this year, there are 120 swimmers (24 competing in varsity). With a large number of swimmers, the coaches are working to develop a team culture to make sure the swimmers bond with each other.

“We have a very large class of freshmen and sophomores, and I think [the team is] getting along really well because of the strong leadership of the senior class,” Kasemets said.

Through bonding exercises, girls on the swimming team have developed deep relationships with one another and seniors, especially, have seeked leadership opportunities. Motl has been on the swim team since her freshman year and has developed friendships with her fellow swimmers throughout the seasons, which has enhanced her swim experience. 

“You get to be with your best friends everyday,” Motl said. “You get to see them for two hours after school and have fun and joke around.”

Being social is a valued aspect of the girls swim team, which is essential for group trust. Additionally, by being supportive of one another, the girls acquire leadership skills that will improve their social skills and guide them in the future.

“We all vote on two people every week who did a really good job, whether that’s working really hard in the pool, outside the pool, or being a really good friend to somebody and showing leadership,” Motl said. “I think that’s very good for team bonding, because we congratulate each other on our little successes.”

To further increase the participation and enjoyment in the swim team, scrimmages are run to engage the swimmers during practice. According to Motl, the girls are split into three different “paddy squads” that compete with each other throughout the entire season.

“A while ago, we all did an Instagram competition in our paddy squad to see who could make the funniest reel,” Motl said. 

However, being on the swim team isn’t just all fun and games. The swim team is a huge time commitment, with practice after school every day and occasional early morning workouts. 

“There isn’t always time to study for tests or complete your homework on the deadlines,” Motl said. “I’m also not able to participate in many clubs because I’m at practice.”

Having to balance academics and swimming with a limited amount of time has proven to be difficult for the swimmers. With competitions already starting at the end of September, the stress is even more noticeable as swimmers try to improve their times. 

“Having to mentally participate and be excited at every practice only to not see any results at the end is definitely difficult,” Motl said. 

Even though scores are a huge part of being on the swim team, most swimmers learn to be content with their successes and failures as long as they try their best. Motl strongly believes that effort is a larger factor in the outcome than the result itself. 

“You have to be happy with the effort that you put in and not think that the effort you put in is always going to correlate to the result,” Motl said.

Understanding that swimming can be demanding for students, the coaches assure their students that they are there for support when needed. Although Kasemets knows that stress can build up, he feels that students shouldn’t be discouraged by failure.

“Sometimes we get wrapped up in the fact that it’s a competitive sport, but ultimately we are asking you to go back and forth as fast as you can in a hole that has water in it,” Kasemets said.

Regardless if the meet is a success or not for Motl, swimming seems to remain a great experience for her. Ultimately, she feels that the swim team has positively impacted her high school career significantly.

“Coming in for freshman year, I didn’t even know what the program was about, but I certainly wasn’t expecting 120 girls trying out for the swim team,” Motl said. “It was a really big difference to see how many people loved to swim, which is why the Stevenson swim team will be forever memorable to me.”