Imagine a loud nanatorium filled with rioting parents and competitive swimmers racing to accomplish the unimaginable. This year’s swim and dive team will do just that at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary. With Head Coach Courtney Wainio, alongside Lisa Byrne, and William Humphries, both assistant coaches, the swimmers and diver will be preparing themselves for a new season. The swim team consists of thirty six boys and girls and one diver, Liam Shwalter.

“We have lots of newcomers,” said Wainio. “It’s a good well-rounded team and it will be interesting to see what we can do.”

Wainio is one of the newest coaches at Wakefield and has been swimming competitively since age eight and has been coaching since age seventeen. Wainio has coached year-round swimmers, ages five to eighteen, summer league swim teams, and all different levels of swimmers.

The swim and dive team has had a new coach nearly every year for the past three years. Having a new coach every year is somewhat of a challenge to some swimmers.

“It’s weird because every year you get a new coach,” said senior and captain Mason Doty. “You get so used to that coach during that entire year and the next year they may not even be there. You have to conform to new people and go with it.”

The first swim meet took place on Tuesday, November 11. Although it was a first competitive meet for some swimmers, Wainio was impressed with the results.

“It’s pretty cool to see in just these couple weeks of practice how much they’ve improved,” said Wainio. “We had our first swim meet Tuesday night and we had a few people who haven’t swam competitively before. You can imagine how nervous they would be, but they did very well and I think they were pleased with how they did, too.”

As aforementioned, Shwalter is the only person on the dive team this year. Although this is his first year, Shwalter has excelled in all five categories of swimming including front, back, inward, reverse, and spin, of which reverse being his strongest point.
Shwalter is preparing for his first meet, Friday, December 5, and is excited to compete.
“I’ve gone to every practice and I’m just trying to get better,” said Shwalter. “I really hope I can help bring up our team’s ranking and score. Even though my first meet is soon, I’m not that nervous. I think that because I practice every day I will do fine.”

Other captains this year include Emily Rezac, and Abby Cassario.

Attending practice is essential for growth, improvement, and success. Every day after school, the team practices at the YMCA for an hour. Practice consists of working on swimming techniques such as streamlining, and dry land strength exercises, including push-ups, burpees, lunges, squats, and various abdominal exercises.

“Practice helps you get the required techniques and prepare the skills you need to perform,” said Rezac.

Swimmers that are expected to stand out this season include Rezac, Cassario, and sophomore Leo Tuenker.

“Emily Rezac just signed with Towson University, which is very exciting,” said Wainio. “Abby Cassario does great things, too. She’s a positive person on the team who’s always smiling. Another captain, Mason Doty, is great at motivating the team. He’s all about morale and just brining everybody together.”

Although swim and dive meets may seem like a bore to some, this proves to be untrue.

“I can see why swim meets can get a bad rep,” said Wainio. “If you’ve been to meets in the summer, they last forever. Fortunately ours last two hours, at the most, and they go so quick. My first experience was this past Tuesday at our first meet at the Triangle Aquatic Center, and this place was electric. There were three other teams and us, and it was so loud in there. It was so exciting and I don’t know how it could be boring.”