A new assistant coach is the big change happening this swim season. Ashley Christensen is assisting swimmers alongside head coach Angela Kisicki. The plan for this year is for the two coaches to work with swimmers on improving their skills inside and outside of the pool deck.

“It will be a building year in the pool, pushing ourselves and out of the pool, believing in ourselves,” Kisicki said.

Both coaches want to see more self-improvement in their swimmers rather than seeing them place well or win medals during the meets and invitationals this season. The team is mainly focusing on fixing their endurance and overall basic body strengths while also trying to make the team bond stronger since they aren’t traditionally a sport that involves great team work.

“I have seen improvement in them,” Kisicki said. “I’ve also seen them having a good time while reaching those goals, making the teams bond stronger.”

Kisicki believes the biggest problem with the team is their fear of failure.

“They try not to set themselves up for failure, but they aren’t setting themselves up for success at the same time,” Kisicki said.

The boys swim team had an invite on Dec. 5 against seven other high schools in the area. The team ended up placing sixth overall with sophomore Donovan Thompson-Grimm placing ninth in the 50 meter freestyle race.

On Dec. 4, the school faced Omaha North, losing against them by a total of 56 points.

While the team did lose overall, they had some swimmers place individually such as junior Jimmy Jactino who placed first in the 500 meter freestyle relay.

On Nov. 30, the boys’ team attended a Benson invitational where they placed fifth out of six schools. The next dual will be against Omaha Benson at Monroe on Dec. 18.