In front of the Aquakats was an ocean, a crystal clear body of water that was marked with countless lines for lanes. The urge to jump right in was inside of everyone as if the tides were pulling them into the swimming pool. Despite the set backs, the training will be worth it. All around were swimmers ready to dive or swim to make it to state for the 2023-2024 swim season.
Returning to state is for the third time the only diver on the team, having countless personal records and achievements all season long.
“It feels great to be going to state again, and I’m super excited to represent my school at state,” senior Kelsey Weddington said.
Having been recognized for her efforts during signing day, Weddingston’s hard work allowed for her to continue diving in college for Tulane University.
“Throughout practice to advance to state, I would practice five times a week year round,” Weddington said. “To improve to do good for the state meet I will practice my dives.”
Going to state is a great accomplishment, but individually ,the Aquakats broke many of the previous records.
“Breaking a school record has been a goal of mine this year, and it felt amazing to finally get one at my last meet of the season, especially as a freshman,” freshman Claire Mayronne said. “This year I have been practicing in the morning and afternoon every day. It has been difficult to practice without a pool of our own, but I think that our team’s hard work has really paid off. I’m excited to see where the team could go if we have a pool built.”
Breaking a record as a freshman is remarkable, but the years of countless practice some of the seniors showed paid off during the regional meet.
“It felt really good to break the WHS 100 Free Record. More than anything, I was happy to get a personal best time,” senior Ashley Flowers said. “I was very happy with my swim, but I felt that I could have been more prepared by perfecting my flip turns and having more confidence in myself.”
The 200 and the 400 boys relay were both broken as well with the team consisting of senior Keddie Ramsden, junior Briggs Cesan, sophomore Langston Ramsden and sophomore Aaron Barker.
“It feels really good to break both the relay records,” Barker said. “Ever since last year when we got close we wanted to break both our records and it meant a big deal to us to be able to finally break them.”
To make big differences for the 2024-2025 season, everyone on the team has big goals to make it to state next year.
“Personally, I’m going to be training in the summer and working to be a better swimmer and make it to state next year,” Barker said.
Training in the off season will be key to meeting this goal.
“Next year, I hope to advance farther than I did this year by staying consistent with my training,” Mayronne said. “I had a couple of setbacks this season that interrupted my training, so I have a lot of hope for next year.”
