By Scott Janovitz, Staff Writer

BHS swimmers broke a number of records as their season ended, including the girls two hundred yard medley and the girls four hundred yard free relay, both of which were broken by a team of Elizabeth Morris, Emi Hitomi, Amelia Wester, and Laura Tramer. Tramer also broke records in the two hundred yard free and five hundred yard free, qualifying for the state tournament in those events. This will be the junior swimmer’s third time at the state tournament.

Most of the team’s recent record-setting was done at the district tournament on February 20th. It was a satisfying finish to a long season without many wins.

Despite the team record, Emi Hitomi considers the season to be a success. “I thought we did well,” Hitomi said, “Especially considering that Beachwood had half the number of swimmers as most of the teams we faced.” According to Hitomi, those extra swimmers gave the other teams more points automatically, before swimmers even got into the pool.

Tramer also considered this past season to be a success, despite having relatively few victories at meets. “I would say the season went really well,” Tramer said. “All the swimmers worked really hard to improve their times and a lot of people got their best times this season.” Tramer continued, “The team swam really well at our sectional meet, as well as others.”

This promising finish to the season leads to hope for the next few years. As Coach Lisa Sostakowski reminds everyone, “It’s a process, it will not happen in one year.” While this season undoubtedly had some highs and some lows, it’s clear that the future looks bright for the BHS swim team.

The Challenges: Long Hours, Lack of Recognition

On a Friday after school, long after many students have left BHS to go home and enjoy their weekend, there are still students at BHS. A relatively small, dedicated group of swimmers have gathered to compete in one of their first home meets of the season. What many students do not realize, however, is how much work goes into preparing for this meet.

The air is humid. The heat is stifling. Welcome to the BHS swimming pool. The team is competing against a number of schools. As the swimmers ascend the starting blocks, a look of determination appears on their faces. Swimmers worked hard to break their records, if only by fractions of a second. The success that the team achieved this season can only be attributed to their hard work.

At the beginning of the season, there are many practices from 5:45 AM to 7:15 AM, 3:30 PM to 6:45 PM, and sometimes weekends from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM. These practices are often comprised of very difficult activities, which, as junior swimmer Amnon Carmi explained, “take you to the deepest levels of hell.” Carmi further explained that the “first two weeks of the season are like Survivor,” and that these practices, “would make even the marines cry.”

Because they work so hard, many swimmers wish that the student body would recognize them for the amount of time they put into their season. As senior captain Alex Wertheim explained, “it can be hard to keep morale up without incentive from someone outside the swim team.” Wertheim is also upset with the fact that while the basketball team often has “whiteouts and other promotions,” the swim team does not.
Swim coach Lisa Sostakowski also worries about the lack of attention swimmers receive for the amount of time that they put in. Coach Sostakowski feels that an increase in attendance would be beneficial to the swimmers. Sostakowski explained, “The length of a meet is minimal, one to two hours total; so support would be great for the swimmers.”

During swim season, while most students continue their daily activities after school, one thing is certain; come 3:30 PM, there will be a dedicated group of swimmers in the pool, ready to work hard for their team. These students will continue to practice, and meets will continue to take place, regardless of the lack of attendance from the student body. Given the choice, however, swimmers would definitely prefer a cheering section. And as junior swimmer Amnon Carmi puts it, “There really is no better place to be on a cold winter day than the BHS pool.”