Boys swimming team starts rebuilding year

As Green River High School boys dive into the pool and the start of the swim season, many are diving in for the first time.

"I'd say we're looking at a good half of our team have never been on a high school swim team before," Coach Colleen Seiloff said.

This year's swim team has 11 freshmen and several sophomores who are joining the team for the first time, according to Seiloff. As the new students step up, they will be taking the place of the seniors who graduated.

"We lost some really great athletes last year," Seiloff said. "So we kind of are considering this year a rebuilding year."

Seiloff said rebuilding the team means focusing on getting the new students used to swimming at a high school level and working on things like stroke technique. She noted other sports often have freshmen separate from the main team by splitting teams into varsity and junior varsity levels, "whereas in swimming, they're just part of our team, and they go out and they can be point-getters right away."

Despite the relative inexperience of the team, Seiloff is excited and optimistic about what the new team members will be able to do, noting she followed many of them through their middle school swim careers, where they did well.

"I think we've got a lot of work to do, but I'm looking forward to working with this group," Seiloff said. Although she isn't sure where they'll end up this season, she believes by next year they'll be able to come back strong.

Seiloff also appreciates having several good swimmers among the upperclassmen still on the team.

"Our juniors and seniors are a good group," she said. "We have some great returning divers. We have some athletes that. . .were very strong and a really important part of our second-place finish last year. I know those guys are all going to step up and be great leaders."

Last year, every member of the team was able to swim at state, which was the first time the team saw 100% qualification, according to Seiloff. Taking the whole team to state again would be a great goal to reach, but Seiloff's main focus is on consistently improving and building a unified team.

"We're just going to approach the season like I really do every other season," Seiloff said - "take care of what we can take care of, and that is the technique, getting better individually, coming together and working as a team, and just helping each other get better. And we'll see where we end up."

The boys swim team has started practice and will begin the season over the next few weeks, starting with a pentathlon meet and a relay meet, after which the team will go up against 4A competition. Seiloff said she likes the beginning of the season, especially the pentathlon, because it lets her see where everyone on the team is at.

Looking forward to the new season, Seiloff believes "it's going to be fun."