The middle school orange team improved greatly over the course of the season. The team went from individuals with some swimming skills to individuals with a high skill set.
“The team improved a lot,” said eighth-grade team member Emily Forgash. “We didn’t particularly improve in speed but we all improved in our form.” Since the swimmers all started out at a pretty good speed when they learned the techniques, they turned out to be a strong team.
As well as improving, they became a closely knit team that worked together seamlessly. We danced during practices and complaining about the tightness of swim caps. As well as that, the team went through many things together. The team incorporated fun and friendship into practices and meets as well as hard work. One thing that pushed the team to achievement was the fact that the Cobham swimmers were very skilled, and therefore motivated the team to become better versions as individual swimmers.
The team bonded and connected with people the team may never have interacted with before. Although the orange team learned more about the development of strokes and worked on enhancing the team’s skills more than acquiring them, the team still managed to improve as individual swimmers. In the beginning of the season, there was a barrier between seventh and eighth graders, but as it progressed that barrier disintegrated. “The lanes were definitely a bit divided between seventh and eighth graders but we all came together and helped each other out when we needed to,” said Forgash.
Not only was this season about learning how to swim, it was about becoming and maintaining close relationships with our coach and our teammates, and being able to be a respectful part of the team.
