The swim team had a decisive victory at Cape Coast Conference, with many of the swimmers winning their events.

“I was only put in one event, which was the 50-yard freestyle,” senior Ram Marana said. “I ended up getting first in my event, so that was good.” 

However, the performance at upcoming Districts on Oct.27, might not be as good as it was at CCC. Many of the practices to condition for Districts have been canceled.

“One it’s Florida, so we have weather,” freshman Sophia Fetouh said. “That really sucks because it’s like only during our time of practice thunder starts. Just yesterday the thunder was two miles away, so we had to miss that practice. On top of that [Coach Rebecca] Matoska, who is our swim coach, got sick so [she] couldn’t do practice last week, so the old science research teacher [Rob Klaasen] had to coach us. I sometimes don’t go to West Shore’s practice because of weather or [other issues], but I think I’ve only been to two practices since CCC.” 

Having these practices canceled can really affect performance. Swimming is a sport that requires continuous practice because of how athletes move their muscles, so going to one practice on Monday and then not having practice until Thursday can be detrimental to performance, according to Fetouh. Marana has been keeping up with practice on his own time however.

“Me personally, I’ve been going to the gym because there’s a pool where I work out, so I do that to get the laps in to make up for the ones I missed because I couldn’t go to practice,” Marana said. 

However, not everyone on the team is doing the same thing as Marana is.

“I cannot say that everyone else is putting their own time into practice when conditioning is canceled,” Marana said. “They might take advantage of the fact that practice is canceled to work on their academics.”

Marana also said he thinks because of the practices being canceled and some people not practicing, the team’s performance will be affected. 

However, Fetouh remains optimistic about how Districts will go.

“Even with all this, I think I am prepared,” Fetouh said, “I just need to work on my turns.”

Marana also agreed that with a little more practice he will be ready for Districts.

“I think I am with a little bit more practice,” Marana said, “considering it is next Thursday. I am swimming the same event [as in CCC] so it will be a little easier since I won’t have to practice any different events.” 

The team will be competing in Districts at Mims on Thursday.

By Arabella Belcher