The New Trier Girls swimming and diving teams are dominating the competition this season. With an undefeated record, both coaches say that the reason of their success is because of hard work. “The girls put in a lot of work in the offseason and it’s made a huge impact on the team,” said head coach Mac Guy.
Coach Guy and Coach Bruce Kimball agree that everyone on the team has stepped up. The swim team’s hard work is evident with early morning and after school practices every day for three months. “The practices have been really hard, but everyone has been putting everything that they have and have been working really hard,” said junior Kate Lucenti. “The team is really good this year; we haven’t lost a meet,” agreed junior Rebecca Stern.
The season is coming to an end for swimming and diving due to the fact that they already faced one of their rivals, Evanston, at the Evanston Meet this past weekend. The team also faced stiff competition this weekend when they participated in Trevian Relays here at the New Trier pool. The Trevs fared well in the relays and won the meet. Co-Captain Amelia Gergenti says, “This meet is always great for us. The scoring is points-based, so a deep team like ours generally does well.” With a team roster nearing 130, Girgenti comments, “Our strongest asset is always the depth we have.”
This year, the State Meet is on the 22nd and 23rd of November. Rebecca Stern said that “JV and Varsity conference is in three weeks and state is in five weeks; we are working hard for all of the upcoming meets.”
The team will face major rivals at state, including Fenwick, Glenbrook South, Downers Grove North, and Glenbrook North. Fenwick is known to be very tough competition this year. “Fenwick is favored to win diving this year and they will be good competition for our divers,” said Kimball. But he said that his fifteen divers are ready for the challenge and hopes that they can win. The captains of the team this year are Tally Ford, Grace Ford, Kara Lucenti, Christine Ryan, and Amelia Gergenti. “All the seniors this year are experienced,” said Kimball. Kate Lucenti said that “The captains are really helpful to everyone on the team they make us work and they are always making sure that we do our best.”
As the season winds down both coaches have different goals for their team for the rest of the season. Guy wants his swimmers to improve their times and wants them to swim their lifetime best.
Kimball wants his freshman to learn more dives and his upperclassman to get more experienced for the meet. Kimball said, “We have a solid group of seniors and juniors this year and the sophomores have really stepped it up on the JV team and the new freshman are really learning a lot.”
Nearing the end of her high school swim career, Gergenti says, “It’s crazy to think back. It’s also bittersweet. This team is a huge commitment and there’s so much to live up to. Plus, there’s the intense academics here at New Trier. No matter what, every girl on this team has a lot to be proud of by keeping up with it all.”