Living up to the standards set by the previous season while dealing with the loss of six seniors who went to states is going to be a challenge for the Boys Swim and Dive team. Despite this challenge, they are working extra hard to have a great outcome this season.
Captain Ben Bryan ’24 said he is working hard to get the team where they need to be in order to have a shot at winning the MAC Red for the 25th time in a row, along with attempting to have many swimmers make their state cut. Along with this, Bryan and the other captain Troy Liu ’24 are hoping to create a team that will succeed down the line.
“Looking down the line in one, two, three, four years, we are looking to see how we can make the team the best it can be,” Bryan said. “Along with this, Troy and I are looking to do the best that we can individually and through this get other people to also do the best they can.”
One strategy Bryan and Liu have adopted to achieve the goals they set is by using gatorade water bottles as motivation for their teammates to make certain times. This ultimately will help them with their goal of getting as many swimmers to make their state cuts as possible.
“One thing we have implemented as a motivational tool is this water bottle strategy,” Bryan said. “Through this, each swimmer puts his goals on a gatorade water bottle, and if they get a personal record, they achieve a gold star.”
Owen Mulcahy ’25 said he has set a personal goal to make it to states, but beyond that Mulcahy has an optimistic outlook on the upcoming season, despite the loss of the graduating class.
“Last year we lost many good seniors, six of which went to states,” Mulcahy said. “With that, there are a lot of shoes to fill. This team is very committed to becoming the best possible team we can be. We have a lot of underclassmen that have the ability to step up and help the team if they continue to put in the work.”
Mulcahy said he also believes that if the team continues to put in hard work, they can live up to the legacy set by last year’s team by winning the MAC Red again.
“The goal right now is to win the MAC like the past teams before us, but every small win counts,” Mulcahy said. “We’re gonna grow as a team and hopefully we can find success further than winning the MAC.”
Coach Greg Wolff said he laments the loss of their top relays and quite a few strong swimmers and that this upcoming season will be harder to meet the team’s goals, but he sees this as a way for everyone to grow.
“We’ve got a smaller group, but it is a great group of kids,” Wolf said. “So far, we have had some really good practices, such as last night’s practice, which was one of the best we have had in a long time. We are just going to keep looking forward like we did after Covid, saying ‘Here is where we are today. Where do you want to be tomorrow? Where do you want to be in March?’”
