It isn’t often that the swim team gets recognized for its hard work and dedication to the sport. With less than favorable practice times, this team continues to put in daily effort to be great.

“Swim is not easy,” Summit swim coach Carlos Salazar said. “There is hard work and sacrifice, but the rewards are more than just a faster time.”

The average varsity swimmer’s day starts bright and early at 5:45 am, waking up to cold water and vigorous exercises. Each day is a grind to improve their strokes and train for faster times.

“Waking up at 5:10 to go jump in ice cold water kinda sucks,” senior varsity swimmer Brison Sanders said.

Not only does it keep swimmers in shape and workout their whole body, it can improve work ethic, which leads to becoming a great competitor and helping them in real life. Sanders believes swimming is great for people who want to become stronger both mentally and physically because of how it pushes them to be their best. Social skills are another important attribute that can be developed from working with a team.

“These skills can help in real life since you may not always like your co-workers, but you’ll still have to get along with them,” Sanders said.

Swim has both perks and downsides, just like anything else. Although swimmers have a supportive team by their side, there is the struggle of striving to do better.

“Being on the swim team is fun, but swimming can be frustrating sometimes,” Sanders said. “Especially when you have been working hard to get faster, but you just don’t for some reason.”

Along with struggling to get better times, there are the occasional sports injury. As any athlete can understand, this can be really unfortunate. Luckily, there are coaches and trainers to help.

“When I have an athlete with an injury, I’ll ask where it hurts and then send them to the trainer,” Salazar said. “After they have been looked at and cleared to work out, we can modify their practices based off of the doctor’s notes.”

The swim team is a welcoming place for anyone interested in pursuing a fun sport and becoming a better team player. The reality is that swimmers must continue to show work ethic in order to become a good competitor. They also must work out for years. There is no instant gratification, but there is an amazing team and coach to support everyone, every step of the way.

“They won’t regret joining and we would be ready to welcome them,” Sanders said.