Members of Haines High School’s first official swim team will be striving to qualify for the state championship meet when they race at this weekend’s regional championship meet in Juneau.
The Haines team has only four members – all women – and they face a formidable task. Unlike in other sports, all schools in Alaska compete in swimming together, regardless of school size. For Haines swimmers to make it to state, they must either win a race at regionals or notch a time among the 12 fastest swimmers in an event statewide.
Under coaches Lexie DeWitt and Sydney Wray, Glacier Bears swimmers started training in August and have competed in two meets to date, in Ketchikan Sept. 17 and last weekend in Sitka. Weather grounded the team from competing in a Petersburg meet.
The team trains daily and twice daily three times per week.
DeWitt said the difficulty for swimmers at a meet like regionals is to concentrate on swimming their best – without knowing where they are in the standings.
“I strive to make them focus on personal records. You can’t worry about the future. You can’t control what others are capable of or what someone might be doing somewhere else. You have to concentrate on how you’re doing,” DeWitt said.
Shifting from a club to a school sport this year, the team acquired new uniforms and compensation for coaches.
Compared to club swimming, scholastic swim meets last 3.5 hours compared to 2.5 days, and they include a diving competition. Swimmers are limited to competing in two individual events and two relays per meet.
“These meets are fast and furious. It’s more enjoyable for spectators,” DeWitt said.
The arrival of new swimmer Grace Stickler, a senior, gave the squad just enough swimmers to compete in relay races. DeWitt said Stickler’s dedication and grit have been an inspiration to the squad.
Sophomore and team captain Lucia Chapell may be the team’s best prospect for statewide competition. She made state last year in the 100-meter butterfly but at last week’s Sitka meet was unable to improve on her personal record of 1:05.6. She’ll also be competing in the 100-meter backstroke, where her best time is 1:04.
Chapell is hoping to make the final heat at state and has been working in the gym on upper-body strength for butterfly. “It’s a lot of shoulders and core (muscles). Your kick comes from your core.”
State competition poses a challenge as competitors typically don’t have a cheering section of friends and family members, Chapell said.
Classmate Camelia Bell competed in the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter freestyle last weekend lopped three seconds off her best time in the 100-meter event. Getting out ahead in that race helped motivate her, Bell said.
Bell said she’s looking forward to seeing the swim team get bigger in future years.
Emma Dohrn, also a sophomore, also will be competing in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle events. She set personal records of 27.65 in the 50-meter event and 1:02.46 in the 100-meter last week. She attributed her improvement to Mount Edgecumbe’s new swimming pool. “It felt fast.”
Dohrn said her events are particularly competitive. “So many of our times are so close together.”
Dohrn said she’s motivated by her 10 years of experience swimming at the club level. “I just think about how long I’ve been swimming. I went to a lot of championship meets when I was younger, but it’s gotten a lot more competitive now that I’ve gotten older.”
Some swimmers including Dohrn are using swimming to train for other sports. Dohrn’s are basketball and track. Stickler’s include wrestling and basketball. DeWitt said other high school athletes who started with the Haines Dolphins swim team have dropped into swim practices to train.