New Kids on the Block: Seven Freshmen place onto the Girls Varsity Swim team after the spring sports tryouts

“Are you ready to drown this morning?”

That’s the start of freshmen Clara Breneman and Lila Kimmel’s conversation before each Kansas City Swim Academy practice. Since joining the club in January, they’ve continued to almost drown three times a week with one main goal: make varsity at East.

With mediocre skills — slow turns, lagging behind because they’re tired, bad technique — they often found themselves falling behind their peers. After two months of persevering and barely making intervals, Breneman and Kimmel along with five other freshmen, fastened their goggles and hopped into lane three of the Wiley Wright Pool for the first day of varsity swim tryouts.

Although it wasn’t as intimidating as their first KSPA practice, varsity was comfortable for the incomers due to coach Chris Copeland’s style — heavily focusing on pace work and technique with an emphasis on rest time — easier than the grueling club practices, according to freshman Sloan Meyer.

Their first activity with the team on the Friday of tryout week, included new members being surprised by upperclassmen waking them up and taken to room 315 for donuts with the whole team. Later that day, instead of practicing like normal, the team participated in a game of sharks and minnows and cannonball contests. 

According to freshman Izzy Hunter, the upperclassmen have welcomed the freshmen with open arms. Whether it’s leading workouts or encouraging her Hunter is very appreciative of their awareness of how scary it can be joining a team with mostly upperclassmen.

Since the practices are relatively easier than club, the girls are able to joke around with each other by cracking inside jokes in the fitness room, sharing the latest gossip during the social kick at the end of practice and competing against one another during particular sets.

“It’s not super competitive to the point where you’re like ‘holy crap I can’t do this,’” Hunter said. “It’s more like a fun [type of] serious where we all want to do really well.”

Their competitiveness has only brought them closer together. The teasing, splashing and messing with each other helps them bond during the substantial six-days a week practice schedule. According to Kimmel, the dynamic is very supporting and helpful to one another. 

“I always thought about [swim] like an individual sport,” Breneman said. “[East swim] is more of a team aspect.”

Varsity captain and senior Piper Benjamin tries to include freshmen by organizing team bonding events like breakfasts, games and gift giving among swim buddies. While the freshmen are new, Benjamin says that their work ethic and attitude have pushed them to improve quickly. One of her goals for the year is to make sure the freshmen feel comfortable with the rest of the team.

“I think a lot of them are still in the nuances of varsity sports,” Benjamin said. “They’re a little bit afraid to come out of their shell unlike me and [the other upperclassmen].”

Benjamin, along with Copeland, have recognized promise in not only the freshmen’s swimming skills, but in leadership as well.

“These freshmen will become seniors at some point,” Copeland said. “I want them to start watching the older kids and maturing and beginning not only to manage themselves, but become leaders.”