On Sept. 20, girls varsity swimming and diving won an early-season dual meet against the Loyola Ramblers at the Winnetka campus natatorium.

New Trier and Loyola’s fierce rivalry and the fact that swimmers from both schools compete on the same club teams during the offseason made for an exciting and energetic atmosphere at the meet.

Though the Trevians came out on top in the end, both sides savored the added competitiveness of the match-up.

“Loyola is always a good competitor because they’ve been our rivals for so long,” said junior Greta Pelzek. “It was great to see all of them again and super fun to race them—it was like we were back at a club practice just racing our friends.”

Along with being an exciting rivalry meet, it was also an opportunity for many Trevian swimmers and divers to test themselves in a competitive environment.

Head Coach Robert Guy felt that his team did an excellent job handling this early-season challenge. He attributed much of their success to hard work during the offseason.

“Even though this is the beginning of our season, we have so many girls that have just been working hard for many months with their club teams,” said Guy. “It’s just really fun to see how much growth there has been for so many of our swimmers.”

Pelzek echoed Guy in saying that Trevian swimmers and divers have trained extra hard in preparation for this season.

“Everybody has been working super hard already this season in the water and in the weight room. Everyone seems like they’re working for that top goal and are invested in this team,” said Pelzek.

By working to be the absolute best they can be at swimming or diving, the Trevians have prepared themselves well for the rest of their season.

Against Loyola, the Trevians faced a challenge because Guy made most varsity swimmers compete in their “off events.”

Winning the meet despite this difficulty showed the team that they can still accomplish a lot in challenging situations.

Guy felt that this decision, along with the simple competitive exposure of an early-season meet, helped him and his swimmers’ better understand the team’s current strengths and weaknesses.

“I was really happy with the performances today,” said Guy. “We are starting to figure out where everybody is at this point and what we need to work on.”

Senior Audrey Richardson agreed, “For my first meet of the season, I’d say it was pretty successful. It’s always good to race and know what I have to improve on in practice.”

Looking ahead, the Trevians will have to keep up the hard work if they are to improve upon last year’s 3rd place finish at state. There are several key meets on the way to state, of which the Trevian Relays on Oct. 19 is perhaps the most important.

“I think the Trevian Relays will be a good indicator as to how we are looking for the end of the season,” said Richardson.

When the state finals do roll around in late November, the Trevians will have to contend with a host of formidable opponents. Neuqua Valley and Aurora, the top two finishers from state last year, are both back strong.

A host of other excellent teams including conference opponents Evanston and Maine South are also ready to compete.

Despite these opponents’ formidability, Pelzek was confident in the attainability of a state trophy for the Trevians.

“Our biggest team goal is to win state, which I think is definitely possible,” said Pelzek. “All the girls on varsity are super talented and we can put together a great team and good lineup for sectionals and state.

While Guy was more pragmatic than Pelzek, he demonstrated similar confidence in the Trevians’ ability to compete with anyone in the state.

“If we are taking care of the things that we can control and really focusing on the season one day at a time, the results on the clock at the end of the meet are going to speak for themselves and everybody is going to be really pleased with their performances,” said Guy.