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Lancer Swimming kicks off

By: Rachael Stachowiak
Features Editor

The GM Lancer Swim Team has kicked off the season with a strong start. The team gained new swimmers and an addition of a diving team for the season.

Kathleen Balcam, coach for the team for three years, said there are 30 members on the team. There are 22 girls and 8 boys, many of which are returning from last year.

The team began practices in October. "We are working on building a strong work ethic, character, and believing that anything can be accomplished when you believe in yourself!" Balcom said about their practices. The team works on aerobic and anaerobic conditioning in dryland practices along with core strength, helping improve body position in water. "We want to train to be smarter not necessarily working excessively hard. This means, I work to teach them to become smart swimmers. I want them to think about what they are doing and why they are doing a specific drill or exercise," Balcom shared.

Many of the team members are very excited about the diving team addition. Senior Loren Stachowiak stated, "We lose a lot of meets because we don't have divers. We get a lot of extra points with the addition." Balcom said that there was an increase of kids interested in diving and swimming this year. "Diving is actually an event within a swimming meet. So, for the past two years we have lost close meets due to the fact that we did not have entries in that event," Balcom added. Each diver must learn and perform six dives in order to participate in a meet.

Although the team is incredibly strong, one weakness is the fact that they do not have any home meets and they have confined practice space in the pool. Balcom said, "This means all the meets are on the road, which takes a toll on the kids not having their family members and friends present to support them."

The large team shares the pool with the YMCA at their scheduled practice time every night. They have three lanes forcing them to put ten swimmers in each making it quite tight. "Have the basketball team to practice with only half courts in the Auxiliary Gym everyday," Balcom pointed out.

Junior swimmer, Jamie Gibbs, said, "I think one of our main strengths is that we have a lot of people who have experience. We have a very well rounded team." Gibbs as well as Stachowiak feel that the year looks promising, especially with the addition of the diving team.

Gibbs feels that Corry may give the girls a run for their money. "It's hard to say," she adds. "All the teams are pretty good. The boys should be pretty much evenly matched." Gibbs went to the PIAA State meet last year along with returning swimmers Cassandra Roose and Erin Evanoff.

There are two returning seniors for the boys side this year, Ryan Smith and Kyle Dorea. Smith took first at the major Iroquois invitational last year. "He has an even greater potential to qualify for the PIAA State meet."

"I believe the team will do very well in competition, as this is the third year of the program. Our success cannot be only measured by wins and losses. We may loose a meet but an individual may improve their time, improve their skills, or build their character by accomplishing something difficult," Balcom said about her outlook on the season. The team has a lot of faith in its rookies this year. "They have the best attitude and ability to grasp new skills that I have seen since the beginning of the program," Balcom shared. "These kids and I take great pride in the privilege to represent GM. And the team members and I realize the obstacles we face so we adjust to them and put more effort into the practices and meets."