As the swimmers start to get ready for the meet, they put on their swim caps and do their muscle exercises. The swim and dive team has to do a lot to prepare before their swims meets, which usually occur on Fridays. They have to prepare for a day of swimming and competing against other schools in the state-wide competition on Feb. 16-19 in Stafford, Virginia. 

Some eat certain foods the night before, some have special workouts or stretches to warm up their body and some swimmers do massage techniques. According to theFactfile, olympian swimmer Micheal Phelps does a Chinese massage technique called “cupping” which involves placing cups on the skin to promote suction and enhance the healing of the muscles. 

Carbohydrate-loading is a method that a lot of swimmers use to prepare for their swim meets. It increases carbohydrate calories and the amount of field stored in the muscles for an extended period of time. 

“Our coaches always require us to carbo-load and eat a lot of potassium before meets so that I can reduce cramps while I am swimming,” sophomore Hannah Lepage said. “It helps because it makes me feel [calmer] when I swim, and I don’t worry about getting [muscle] cramps.”

Swim meets usually take about an hour and a half, and in that time, they have to compete in many They have to compete in various types of competitive swimming events such as 100 meter breaststroke, 200 free relay and 100 meter butterfly. Each swimmer can do a maximum of four different events, and while some swimmers do more than two, every swimmer competes in one or two specific strokes. 

“For most swim meets, I usually do the freestyle leg of a relay swim or the 100 meter breaststroke,” sophomore Logan Earle said. “I sometimes do the 50 free swim too and I like all the swims I do.” 

On Jan. 29, the swim and dive team competed in the district championships. The boys placed 2nd and the girls placed 4th. Even though they did not get first place, they still celebrated the teammates that qualified the state-wide meet in events such as the 200 medley relay, 200 meter freestyle, and the 100 meter breaststroke. 

“After the meet, we had dinner at one of the captain’s houses where we all brought food and hung out for a few hours,” Lepage said. “We always have fun on the bus ride home, win or lose.” 

The boys varsity swim team went 5-2 and the girls varsity team went 2-5 in the season. The next swim meet is the state championships on Feb. 12.. The qualifiers were junior Ryan Seo, senior Josh Thomas, freshman Sky Lan, freshman Ben Farello, junior Matthew Bray, junior Haley Roth, sophomore Victoria Santino, sophomore Carly Lahr, and senior Leah Mozeleski.