Following their Feb. 4 defeat of Maine South where the team was firing on all cylinders, the Trevians hope to stay hot through Feb. 19, when they compete at sectionals to qualify for state.

New Trier captured 19 gold medals at the meet Feb. 4 compared to Maine South’s five. The Trevians were effective at both the varsity and JV level, winning with scores of 118.5-67.5 and 111-74 respectively. 

This included Ward Wilson, who won his varsity 500-meter freestyle this past Friday with a time of 4:47.44.

“I always love adding to the team and together to get a win against a good team like Maine South, it feels good,” says Wilson, “It’s definitely a step in the right direction going towards the end of the season with the freshman conference meet this past weekend and conferences, sectionals, and state coming up.”

The team finished strong, but there are still certain aspects each individual needs to polish. Senior swimmer Joe Dienstag, whose backstroke on the medley relay helped lead to a second-place finish, mentions how the details are what make or break a team playoff run.

“For example, simply every single time we push off a wall we’re always thinking about getting deep, having good underwater breaks, and things like that,” says Dienstag. 

New Trier went to Glenbrook North on Feb. 12 to win the conference meet, which following their regular season wins in the South Central Suburban League and IHSA sectional district, was the expectation. With a final score of 166.5, the Trevians finished far ahead even second place Evanston’s 146.4. Head swim coach Josh Runkle describes how important preparation is to wrap up the conference before looking ahead.

“I think we’re at that point where we start a process called tapering where there is a little less practice volume, a little less workload, and a little more rest,” says Runkle. 

“We’re getting to the sharpening part of the season.”

Competitions look different upon reaching the postseason, in diving especially. Rather than four chances per type of dive, divers only get one shot, and it has to be perfect to reach the next level. Bruce Kimball, the head diving coach, details how the team must adjust to these new rules.

“We’ll practice going through one of each and then one of each again and try to simulate what it’s going to be like in the meet,” says Kimball. “We want them thinking ‘I’ve got this dive, and then after that I’ve got this one’ and to gear them towards what it’s going to be like on board.”

Swimmers and divers must excel in their sectional performances on Feb. 19 to qualify for state. Still, the team expects to send many of its top performers – including sophomore Charlie Bufton and  junior Graham Wilson – to Westmont on Feb. 25-26 to compete for a state title.

“The goal is to win state and we’re hoping that everyone is able to do well at sectionals because that’s where you qualify for state,” says Wilson. “Everyone needs to focus directly on that before they can look ahead to state.”

A key aspect in succeeding at the conference and preparing for the sectional level is simply staying healthy. Even minor injuries, or positive COVID tests, make it incredibly hard to perform at a very high level, which is needed this time of the season. For this reason, practices this week get toned down a bit.

“We’ve had some wear and tear injuries, and sinus infections or bronchitis type of stuff, which sometimes happens, but we’re getting guys back,” says Runkle. “We’re getting healthy at the right time.”

This year’s freshman team already won their CSL Championship on Feb. 5, beating second place Evanston by nearly 200 points. It’s a promising beginning to the postseason for a team that feels their attention to detail will propel them to the finish line.

“The goal for our guys is to try to be consistent in the sectional meet, because if they’re consistent, they don’t have to dive amazing,” says Kimball. “They just need to be consistent and not miss anything, and kind of hang in and they’ll have a good chance to qualify.”