The swim and dive team saw some changes this year as Angelica Bisek kicked off her first year with the team as Assistant Swim Coach, Cassie Jung took up the Head Coach Position and Tracy Torgerson focused on her position as the Diving Coach. 

Morgan Larson, Maddelyn Anderson, and Lauren Kitner dedicated their skills and love this year as captains while Kendra Cameron gave her time and effort to make the season run smoothly as student manager. 

This year they grew a sense of home and community even more as they dove into their third year at the New Prague Aquatics Center. One main example of this strong community was the bond formed between the swim and dive team and the cross country team. 

When asked how the support from the cross country team and the New Prague community as a whole affects her and the team, senior Morgan Larson explained, “The biggest impact was feeling recognized by my peers for all the hard work I and everyone else on the team put in this season. I think seeing other students at our swim meets and cheering enthusiastically really spurred everyone on.”

The team has also seen a slew of personal and team accomplishments this year. Eighth-grader Nellie Dalsin won the JV Conference diving competition while Sophomore Lucy Helgestad scored sixth, and seventh-grader Brooklyn Schrock scored seventh. However, divers’ amazing success did not stop there. Seniors Emmalyn Dickerson and Lauren Kittner finished in fourth and fifth place respectively at the Varsity Conference diving competition. Many swimmers also crushed personal records at the JV and Varsity Conferences. Eighth-grader Payten Schieffer had an especially good Varsity Conference breaking not one, but two school records in 50-yard Freestyle(26.00) and the 100-yard backstroke(1:03.28); she finished in sixth place in both of these races.

This season the team has grown both as athletes and as a family, but, like any other sport, there is room to expand and develop. In response to what she hoped to see for the future of New Prague girls’ swim and dive head coach, Cassie Jung replied, “I hope to see more athletes join swimming. We have seen a 30% increase in just the girls’ team with the implementation of the middle school girls team. This year will be the first year that a boys’ middle school team is offered. I hope that a varsity boys team is started next winter!”  She went on to say, “I truly only see growth and competitiveness among our [conference and section] and more options for year-round swimming for both boys and girls at the high school level.”