Swim season is in full swing, and that means the weekly “Swimmer of the Meet” distinction is up for grabs once again. The honor of being named Swimmer of the Meet is given to one boy and one girl at every swim event. The award is given based on a variety of reasons such as the swimmer’s performance in the heats, having good finish times, having the best attitude, or who cheered and encouraged others the most. The spotlight this week falls on the swimmers from the October 28 meet, freshmen AJ Boland and Amory Cooper, and the swimmers from the November 4 meet, sophomores Hailey Shadow and Sebastian Cortes.
“I did the summer swim league in 5th grade, and I thought it was really fun so I did Ambush swim in middle school, and that led me to high school swim,” Boland said. “I love being in the water and getting to play sports in the water.” He is most proud of all of the drops in his times during this most recent meet, and his favorite swim memory is the bus ride home from the Tyler meet.
Cooper has been swimming since 7th grade. She began in the middle school swim program with Coach Scroggins and then kept swimming because her coach recommended she do it. She is most proud of getting swimmer of the meet and her favorite swim memory so far this year has been the Black and Gold meet.
“Swimming allows me to be a part of a team and gives me a community to come to,” Cooper said.
Cortes has been swimming since 8th grade. He began swimming because his friends encouraged him to. His favorite part of being on the swim team is the other swimmers and the people he gets to spend time with. He loves joking around with the other members of the swim team. He is most proud of becoming a swimmer of the meet with Shadow at this past meet, and his favorite swim memory so far is falling asleep on the bus.
“I love being in the water,” Cortes said. “It feels familiar.”
Shadow has been swimming since 3rd grade. She got into swimming because her dad did it in high school, and encouraged her to swim. Her favorite swim memory is going to Coach’s house after homecoming and just goofing off with everybody. She is most proud of getting swimmer of the meet at this most recent meet.
“I feel like I’ve finally found my place on the team,” Shadow said. “I love being on the swim team because I love having all the different personalities, and just seeing the way we all work together. It’s just fun to be around so many different people.”
