Seniors lead swim team into postseason

As women’s swimming is coming to an end, the seniors have embraced the chance to be leaders on the team. Seniors Grace Considine and Ellie Shimp reflected on what it is like to be a team leader.

“It is really fun to get to be a leader on the team and be someone underclassmen can look up to. I hope that I display someone they can look up to,” Considine said.

“As a senior I feel like our leadership has the most impact on the team. The team looks up to us, and they follow what we do, which is a really cool feeling,” Shimp said.

The leadership that the seniors display effects everyone on the team and helps push the swimmers to do their best. Sophomore Elie Considine said,“The seniors have impacted our season by showing the team the best ways to work hard and motivating the underclassmen by giving them something they can work toward. They show leadership through the team huddles before meets to get everyone excited and motivated, and they also help coordinate some of the team bonding activities, which help bring the team closer together.”

Junior Carmen Bekavac also sees the way the seniors push the team at every practice.

“They know when to push us to work harder in practice and they’ve also taught us to make every minute of practice count,” Bekavac said.

Shimp is often looked at as a role model for many on the team, and she takes it as a challenge to be the best person she can be.

“Being a leader is hard at times because sometimes you don’t feel like doing everything like you should, but it also feels good to know that others are looking at you. It makes you act in a way that benefits them and yourself,” Shimp said.

Grace Considine also said she feels the pressure to be the best role model she can for the team. She said every practice has a reason, and she tries to relay that to the team.

“During the middle of the season when the sets get hard, motivation can be lost really easily and effort starts to decline. I try to encourage myself and the rest of my teammates to continue looking at the end goal. Every practice has a purpose, and if you do your job during practice, you can achieve that end goal, which is the whole point of the season.”

Both Elie Considine and Bekavac have become stronger not only physically, but mentally with the help of the seniors and will miss their positive attitudes on the team.

“The senior class this year has some of the most unique and hard working people, and I will miss laughing with them at practice about the countless inside jokes that have been created over the years.”

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