As the swimming season approaches, freshman swimmers have been testing the water, hoping to learn, improve, and show their stuff at the upcoming swim meets in December.

Freshman Taylor Redman, who before high school swam with the Maui Swim Club and the Hawaiʻi Swim Club for 2-3 years each, has joined the team.

Redman’s experience has allowed her to swim with the higher-level athletes during swim practices.

“If you swam for club before, you’re in group one and two depending on your speed,” she said, “and group three is all the new people.”

In groups one and two, swimmers mainly do laps and work on their technique.

Redman said that she is looking forward to competing at the high school level and meeting new people.

Although some incoming freshmen have experience in swimming, a majority are brand new to the sport.

Keely Logan joined the high school swim team with the encouragement of her parents, glad to be there because middle school didn’t offer competitive swimming.

“I’ve always wanted to try it,” she said.

During practices, she and the new swimmers have been focusing on learning how to kick properly, keeping their legs and toes straight to reduce drag. At each practice, they add on to the technique they learned previously.

Logan is looking forward to learning how to swim better, and hopes to do well in competitions.

“I don’t expect to be super good, but I just want to see what I can do,” she said.

Logan said that if she likes swimming this year, she’ll continue it throughout her four years of high school, just like fellow freshman Kerisyn Gilbert.

This year, Gilbert is setting out to try new things, like cheerleading, swimming, and water polo. She already knows that she definitely wants to continue with cheer, but still needs to test out swimming and water polo to see how she likes them before deciding if she will go on in those sports.

Although Gilbert said that swimming practices have been easy so far, she’s a bit worried that they will get more challenging throughout the season.

As far as competing against other high school students, she said it’s “kind of scary,” but she hopes to do well, and her goal is to improve as much as she can.

The freshmen on the swim team, whether experienced or not, are new to the high school swim scene, and are eager to prove what they can do when meets begin.

The swim schedule is still being worked on, and the first official swim meet’s date is yet to be determined.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Photo by Faith Owan

Swimmers wait outside the pool gates for practice to start.