JUST KEEP
SWIM
by Lilli Eppinga
W
ith all of the popular sports at LHS—basketball, football, volleyball, among others—one activity often goes unnoticed: swimming. Sadly, since there is no pool in the basement, there is no LHS swim team. You can find many competitive swimmers in and around the LHS hallways. Although swimming is not as popular of a sport in South Dakota as others, it has many attributes that make it a vigorous and exciting sport. Two particular students discovered their love for swimming at a very young age; LHS juniors Katie Timmer and Madalyn McQuistan found their place on the Sioux Falls Swim Team. “I started swimming competitively when I was six years old, but I started swimming lessons when I was six months old because I always loved being in the water and my cousins also swam so I was constantly surrounded by them and wanted to be like them,” said Timmer. With lengthy practices, nerve-racking meets and one tight-knit swim team, swimming has become a core activity and a driving goal in the lives of Timmer and McQuistan over the years. One aspect in particular that makes swimming special to them is the important friendships they have developed during the multitude of practices and meets. “My favorite part about swimming is all the friends I’ve made in the past few years,” said McQuistan. Just like any activity, the people that surround you greatly affect the experience
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of the sport. This means that a devoted team, such as the Sioux Falls Swim Team, is a gamechanger. “We practice a lot, around eight times a week, so we end up spending a lot of time together which allows for a really close community and family type atmosphere on the team,” said Timmer. No matter the activity, sport or job, there is always an opportunity to form amazing relationships just as Timmer and McQuistan have. The friendships are what transform swimming into more than just a sport, but an enjoyable activity with their best friends at their side. These friendships do not just disappear when they leave the pool, they remain intact during school and during their free time. The bonds they have created over the years through this sport are incredible. All sports take intense training whether it is shooting 400 free throws and practicing multiple plays or running miles and completing laps, but swimming is unique since training is in water rather than land. Most people think swimming consists of laps and treading water, but in reality, it is so much more. “Swim practices usually entail a lot of swimming obviously, but we work on different techniques to help make our stroke better, different speed work and distance. It is comparable to track in some senses,” said Timmer. Swimming takes strong endurance and tons of practice, which is why Timmer and McQuistan spend so much time at the pool. Practices for the Sioux Falls Swim Team consist of several different events and usually take place twice a day. “Swim practices involve swimming for two hours,” said McQuistan. “We are supposed to go to at least five practices a week, but there are seven offered.”
