Highland swimming gears up for new season and coach

Despite a new swim coach, the Highland Rams have been working hard to prepare for their first home meet at the Fairmont Aquatics Center, Oct. 18. The last three years have brought three different coaches, the newest being Wes Johnson. For the seasoned swimmers on this team, like captains Alex Pynes and Matthew Silver, it’s just another day in the pool.

“It’s a little hard having another new coach, but it’s a new experience every year. Last year everyone thought it was going to be hard but it turned out really well,” Pynes said. “We’re slowly getting into everything and starting some new traditions. The seniors are working hard to make the transition to Coach Johnson an easy one.”

The girls team is made up mostly of younger swimmers with very few returning seniors. Pynes said the older girls are working hard to help their teammates get faster times and smoother swimming strokes. Most of the team is made up of freshman, but there are still many with at least a season of competition behind them.

On the boys side, the makeup is split about 50/50, with half the team being older, and more experienced. Silver said the boys team has always been strong and is looking good this year. But it’s going to require the experienced swimmers to help the younger ones learn how to compete.

“We’ve had a lot of fun in the past and I hope this year will be an extension of that,” Silver said. “We have a lot of good returning swimmers and several new ones. It’s nice having the new swimmers coming in.”

Highland’s season will officially start on Oct. 18. Johnson said it’s tough to know who the biggest competition will be so early in the season. Taking over the team has been a challenge but at the same time, because of the hard work the previous coaches put in, the team has a strong sense of unity which has helped give him a smooth transition, he said.

“This team has such a great work ethic so far. There was already such a great sense of community on the team, it was an easy transition,” Johnson said. “The kids are motivated now and very excited to compete. It is hard, but now I think we’re squared away and will have some consistency in coaching for a while.”

Johnson said it’s too early to tell how well Highland will do in Region 6 but he has high hopes for both sides. A top three finish in region is the goal for both teams and its performance over the next five months will determine if Highland makes its goal or tries again next year.

“I think we’re going to do well if we put our minds to it,” Silver said. “It’s all about coming to practice and working hard every day of the season to get our best times at state.”