With the majority of the team consisting of underclassmen, the girls’ swim team faces inexperience and an uphill battle due to the lack of a diving coach. Without a diving coach, the team cannot gain points from the diving aspect of meets.

Swimming season has begun, and with a 1-3 record, the 30-member varsity girls’ swim team is beginning to find some rhythm to their season.

With more students participating this year, the team is excited about their chances to be competitive in all the events. A match is won by receiving a larger total score over the course of many different events.

“Having more people helps a lot because we are able to put the maximum amount of swimmers in each event, giving us the best chance to win,” junior Elizabeth Sikora said.

The diving section of scoring is vacant this year for Clayton. The team was unable to find a diving coach, and consequently has to give up points in diving events.

“This puts us at an immediate disadvantage when competing against other school,” senior Gabby Inder said. “Although we may win the swimming portion of a meet, if we are already behind from the diving, we may not come out with a win.”

Inder is a one of the leaders of the team, and an important swimmer contributing in the 100 meter backstroke and 100 meter butterfly events. Inder is ranked top 10 in the 50 meter freestyle within the Suburban East Conference with a time of 28.64 seconds.

“In the past, I have focused on participating in swimming at the club level; however, this year, as a senior, I wanted to be apart of the Clayton team,” Inder said.

The Clayton team has five swimmers who used to compete at the club level: Inder, Sikora, sophomore Katherine Kirchoff, freshman Emma Vierod, and freshman Dana Schwartz.

The team is working to bridge the social gap between previous club swimmers and less experienced swimmers.

“This year we wanted to have more of a ‘team’ feeling,” Sikora said. “In the past, our team has been kind of isolated from each other, mainly because swimming is such an individual sport.”

Sikora is another leading swimmer. She competes in the 100 meter breaststroke event and relays.

“This year we have been cheering a lot more, and we have tried to do more team building activities,” Sikora said.

Sikora wasn’t the only team member to agree with this motto of sorts.

“Everyone is really supportive of one another and there is a friendly dynamic,” Inder said.

Swimming is a significant commitment at the high school level, because staying in shape takes hard work and dedication. The team practices long hours in and out of the pool to achieve success at swim meets.

“We swim from 3:30 to 5:15 or 5:30 everyday after school, and sometimes we have practices on Saturdays as well,” Sikora said. “Every Tuesday and Thursday, we have a 30-minute dry land practice before getting in the water.”

Ample practice makes swimming one of the best sports to keep in good shape. There is not a lot of time spent reviewing plays, strategies, or film like other sports, so practice means physical work.

“I really like the dry land workouts because I feel like they have made me a stronger swimmer and it’s also a nice change to not be in the water all the time,” Sikora said.

With lots of new swimmers the team’s goals are set on rebuilding and gaining experience.

“Although we have a lot more numbers than previous years, it’s the first year swimming for a lot of the girls,” Sikora said. “By next year they will be accustomed to the practices and meets, which will only help the growth of our team.”

It is not easy for girls to compete with club teams as well as the Clayton team, but the increased number of new swimmers is promising for years to come.

“At Clayton, the coaches are more restrictive and make swimmers attend high school workouts over the club equivalent,” Inder said.

This policy has had positive and negative affects on the amount of talent on the team.

“Swimmers on the team have had a much closer bond, as they train together everyday and at meets they are more enthusiastic to push each other to succeed,” Inder said. “However, this decision by Clayton coaches has also caused many competitive swimmers to opt out of swimming for their high school.”

Inder joined the team this year, because of her commitment to her club team in previous years.

The team is looking forward to the rest of the season with matches against Rockwood Summit, Eureka, Pattonville, and Parkway North leading into early February.