Swimmer doing a backstroke. Photo taken by Brandon Wong.
Carlos Aragon also contributed to this article.
The Malden High School Swim Team dives into the new swim season with new goals in mind, starting the new season with a bang.
Coach Jessica Bisson feels that this season is going to “overall, be a little overwhelming” as it is her first year as head coach. To add to that, “[the team] lost around 15 seniors last year so [they] came in with less swimmers than [they] lost” adding a need to rebuild the team. Many of the swimmers who had graduated last year were top swimmers who went to States every year. It was a very hard hit and it left Malden with a very small team.
Luckily, a lot of people tried out for the team. Some from other teams and some that have never swam for a team before. Due to the rebuilding nature of the season, Bisson stated that it makes it easier to say “[they are] going to work on technique” and “make sure that [they] are a close knit team,” and it made her feel really good about the season, entering with 31 swimmers.
Some of the things Bisson hopes is to keep a close knit team. She stated that it is never going to be “just come in and hope that you do well. Practices are going to build and get harder.”
On the opening meet at Somerville, Bisson stated that “they had some nerves, and for some of the swimmers, it was their first meet.” All in all however, Bisson believes that “everybody did a great job, was cheering, and knew what [they] were doing.”
Junior David Lombardi, one of the swim captains, stated that some of the team’s goals are to “win as many meets as possible and work on bonding as a team, consistently improving [themselves].” Lombardi further elaborated that he is personally “looking to improve [himself] as a swimmer” hoping to get more competitive and go back to the states after coming in fifth last year. Lombardi added that it’s going to be difficult, especially “after coming off an injury from this past soccer season.”
Sophomore Tony Geich, said that this year, he is excited since “[they] have a new coach and many new swimmers which will definitely give a new feel to the team.” Geich added that the team is no longer part of the Northeaster Conference (NEC) “which makes a lot of the meets more fair since last year a lot of the teams in the NEC had diving and were allowed to use those points against [them] in meets.” Geich further stated that he personally hopes to “qualify for one of the championships at the end of the season.”
The team is currently going on a 2-0 record, and hope to continue the streak going deeper into the season.
