Diving into the swim team
Boys on Linganore swim team about to compete
December 21, 2018
The swim season has just begun and the swim team is excited to start. The team has just welcomed a new coach to the team, Joseph Hawkins, and they are working very hard to make this season great.
On December 11th, the swim team competed at Middletown High School at their first meet of the season. The meet was successful: the girls won first place and the boys got second place against Urbana. Their next competition was on December 13th and both the boys and girls lost with 73 points for each team. The swim team also competed against Walkersville on December 17th, and against Frederick on January 3rd.
Emily Lotito is a swimmer on the Linganore team and has been competitively swimming for five years. Lotito has met most of her close friends through swim.
Lotito said, “Swim has taught me patience, you want the best time, but you have to work at it a long time. You also need to be mentally strong to take bad days and bad competitions. It will be hard and you will want to quit but you have to keep trying at it.”
Taylor Koch is a member of the Class of 2019 and a swimmer for Linganore swim. She has been swimming since she was five. When she was younger, she would see the swim team practice across the street and thought it was super cool.
She thinks joining a swim team “would definitely be one of the best choices that you could make.”
Koch much like Lotito really enjoys the team’s closeness.
Even though Koch doesn’t like waking up at four-o’clock in the morning for club practice, she still loves to swim.
Koch mentioned that the older swimmers influence her, and Hawkins has put a positive attitude on swim. Koch’s little brother is her biggest fan and is a swimmer, so Koch is always trying to be a good role model for him.
Joseph Hawkins is the head coach for Linganore swim. Hawkins decided to coach because there was a need for a coach and he wanted to give back to Linganore. His goal is to make the team competitive, but fun for the athletes.
Hawkins makes the team work hard, but he also realizes that they have school obligations and wants them to succeed at swim and to succeed in life. “Swimming is one of the few sports you can do all of your life whether you are 16 or 75,” said Hawkins
Hawkins has worked to develop the teams skills in swimming and has also helped develop the bond between the teammates. One of the most difficult challenges for the team is their practice location – they commute to Walkersville High School to practice, as Linganore does not have a pool.
For students considering joining the team next year, contact Joseph Hawkins or another member of the team for more information.
