Sports
Numerous Protocols Address COVID-19 Concerns Facing Swim Team
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Photos by Lane Herbert
SWIMMERS CONFRONT COVID: A Greenhill swimmer, left, rushes to put on her mask after exiting the pool during a Dec. 9 meet won by the Hornets. Under new COVID-19 protocols, masks are required at all times unless the swimmer is in the water. While waiting to compete, swimmers are required to sit in chairs six feet apart to meet social-distancing guidelines.
Payton Blalock Staff Writer Emma Hoffman Staff Writer Ava Iwasko Staff Writer
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he new COVID-19 rules greeted the Greenhill swimmers as soon as they stepped inside the Ginsburg Natatorium for the season’s first practice. One entrance, one exit. No lockers. Bathrooms off limits. And no post-workout showers. All that even before the swimmers slid into the water. It’s been the strangest of seasons for the swimmers thus far, with pervasive pandemic precautions and the threat of a quarantine or an abrupt end to the season a constant threat. “I still think the season will be fun, even though there is uncertainty,” said senior captain Victoria Le. “We can still have fun as a team and enjoy it even if we don’t get all of our meets in.” For Coach Patti Monzingo, the season is special for more personal reasons. Monzingo has nine seniors, a majority of whom she has coached since first grade. She says she hopes to get a season in so that her seniors can get the “last hoorah” that they deserve. “We have an amazing high school and middle school team this year, on both the boys’ and the girls’ sides,” Monzingo said. “All four of my swim teams are top-notch, so it’s very emotional.”
Safety Requirements The new safety protocols aimed at preventing COVID-19 infections have changed every aspect of the old practice and competition routines. Now that the adjustment period is over, Le says it doesn’t feel much different than it would in a normal year. Club swimmers usually don’t practice with everyone else anyway, Le said, and without them most of the team members
can fit in the pool while maintaining social distancing. Still, worries over a potential COVID-19 outbreak can be stressful, concedes senior captain Hannah Fox. “It is an important worry with swimming especially, because everyone is in the same water,” Fox said. “It’s really hard to keep separated when you’re in the same pool. If one of us does get COVID, then everyone’s going home for those two weeks.” Some athletes in other campus sports have said that social-distancing requirements have slowed team bonding, but Fox says that really hasn’t been an issue for the swimmers. “During practice we can still goof off, we still splash each other,” said Fox. “We can get to know each other during meets. It’s relatively easy to connect with the new people.” Connecting with new swimmers is one thing that Fox thinks has become increasingly important for her this year in her new role as a team captain. “It feels a lot like being a big sister,” Fox said. “I have a responsibility, so I need to put that effort into making connections with new swimmers and the people I don’t know.” Despite all the coronavirus concerns, winter sports seemed on track at Greenhill before the Thanksgiving break. But on the afternoon of Nov. 17, with COVID-19 cases surging in Dallas County and across the country, Director of Athletics and Physical Education Jarrett Shine announced that all after-school sports practices and games would be suspended from the following day through Nov. 29, the final day of the break. The suspension of practices in late November further complicated the season for Monzingo’s swimmers. Because most swimmers do not have access to a pool as large as Greenhill’s, the coaches asked team members to add out-of-water workouts over the Thanksgiving break. The turnout was less than what coaches and athletes hoped to see. Whether these missed workouts show up in competitive
results ahead is a concern for Fox and others on the team. “Especially with those who are not on a club team, without prompting from a coach, a lot of people will not work out,” Fox said. “When you’re out of the water for two weeks, you lose that touch and it sets you back.”
Uncertain Season The roller-coaster season took another twist when the team’s first meet, set for Dec. 2, was canceled. On Dec. 9, the Hornet swimmers finally saw action in a meet that was supposed to feature Bishop Lynch High School and Parish Episcopal School. Bishop Lynch withdrew from the meet, leaving Greenhill to face off against Parish. The results were worth the wait: The Hornets won 17 of 22 races, highlighted by senior Theo Johnson breaking the school record in winning the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 59.65 seconds; Johnson also won the 50-yard freestyle. Other individual winners were: Josie Arbuckle, 100-yard butterfly; Oliver Feng, 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke: Hannah Fox, 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle; M.J. Ward, 100-yard butterfly; Diane Lin, 50-yard freestyle and Jackson Benners, 100yard freestyle.
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I still think the season will be fun, even though there is uncertainty. We can still have fun as a team and enjoy it even if we don’t get all of our meets in.”
The Greenhill girls amassed 102 points to 58 for Parish; the boys put up 119 points to 70 for Parish. Overall, Greenhill won the meet 221 to 128. The meet, which was held without spectators but livestreamed, offered a glimpse of the COVID-19 protocols that will be applied throughout the season. Teams are required to come dressed in
their swimsuits to avoid changing in locker rooms. Competitors and coaches are also required to enter and exit through specific doors. Swimmers were required to wear masks and be socially distanced while awaiting their races, and leave the pool immediately after finishing a race. Normally, Greenhill’s natatorium can host meets with over 100 swimmers. Under the new restrictions, only 60 swimmers will be allowed to be in the natatorium during a meet. To enforce the limits, Monzingo says she has had to rescind invitations for some teams that normally attend Greenhill meets. “That’s a shame, because a lot of these teams don’t have other places that they can swim for meets,” Monzingo said. “They were really looking forward to being able to come to our pool.”
Championship Hopes For the swimmers, like other winter sports teams, the trajectory of the season remains uncertain. Team members don’t even know if they will be able to participate in the Southwest Preparatory Conference (SPC), something that swimmers aspire to qualify for every year. “SPC is basically our championship meet, so if we can have some shape or form of that, whether it’s a reduced size or something, if we can swim our events for Greenhill, then I will be happy,” said Johnson, a senior captain. “That’s all I’m hoping for.” Fox says that if the conference championship does take place, Greenhill swimmers will have the opportunity to do well. “I’m excited because the girls relay has a chance to place at SPC, if that does happen this year,” Fox said. Despite the uncertainties, the coaches and swimmers have remained positive about how the season will turn out. “The team aspect of this sport isn’t really about just the swimming,” said Le. “So we can still find that in other ways.”