As the buzzer sounds, seven strong swimmers leap off their starting blocks, streamlining into the water as they push their bodies to the limit. Each purposeful glide of their arms or powerful kick of their legs gets them closer to their one goal: being the first to finish.
On Jan. 23, FHS swimmers and divers competed against Carroll High School and Noblesville High School in the Fishers Natatorium. Fishers came out on top, with the final score being 145-88- 52 for boys varsity and 115-96-87 for girls varsity.
Senior Mason Lawson broke a school record in diving this meet. Lawson has been climbing the ranks of talented divers in FHS’s school program, recently receiving second place in the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Boys State Championship.
“[Breaking the record] feels pretty good,” Lawson said.
Like most school sports, individual athletes on swim teams rely on their entire team to compete well. In some cases, this leads to team bonding and a positive environment to swim in.
“To be honest, I’m really tired, but it was nice because I got to spend time with my teammates and I had a lot of new opportunities,” freshman Ruby Hines said.
Swimmers have a tight schedule, with meets sometimes being back-to-back. This can be difficult for some swimmers to perform with limited rest.
“It was really hard because we had swim events last night, which is double of my usual events,” senior Polina Sopova said. “I’m really tired.”
In addition, there is plenty of pressure on student athletes to perform well in meets, especially ones in their own school. Many parents showed up, with the rafters full and some parents forced to stand.
Despite the exhaustion and pressure, FHS athletes came to play, as evidenced by their high scores this meet. This created a charged, but positive atmosphere that was felt throughout the natatorium.
“I felt pretty good,” senior diver Kirby Danglade said. “I was excited for this meet; there were a lot of people I knew and it was just a good environment and fun to dive in.”
Kevin White, Fishers High School’s head diving coach, reported the meet to be “bittersweet,” because of the finality of the moment.
“It was a little bittersweet,” White said. “This group of divers that I have here I’ve been training every day for three to five hours a day and this was some of their last dual meets, so it was a little sad, but it was exciting to watch them have fun and see some of them break records or personal bests. Overall, [it was] a really good meet.”
