Swimmers adjust to new season

This season will be a bit different for the Lincoln Middle School girls swimming and diving team.

With changes in how the season was scheduled, head coach Michele O’Melia said she’s lost about 20 swimmers to the Sweetwater County USA Swim team, which is preparing for its state swim meet in early March. However, despite the challenges posed by conflicting swim seasons, O’Melia said the team made a strong showing at its first meet in Rawlins over the weekend.

She said many of the girls on the team are learning competitive swimming for the first time, many of whom posted strong times despite that handicap.

“I’m very proud of the girls,” O’Melia said. “Last week, I couldn’t have been happier.”

The middle school team has a six-week season this year, reduced from the eight-week seasons they’ve previously competed in. The team also competes during a new time frame, which is what places it in competition with the USA Swimming schedule. O’Melia said the girls originally competed from October through December, which allowed girls to take on both swimming seasons. Now, the training demands from both teams have caused girls to chose one group over the other. 

Though the team’s seven-year winning streak ended last weekend, O’Melia said winning isn’t the final goal for her young team.

“We’re in a building year,” she said. “ We’re getting them to focus on working as a team and cutting time.”

O’Melia said the team also was awarded a sportsmanship award by the pool lifeguards at the meet.

O’Melia said the award helps strengthen the team building she’s already focused on.