A month into their season, the swim team preps for their big county meet at Center Grove on December 17th.

The County swim meet is one of the biggest meets of the season. It includes GHS, Indian Creek, Whiteland, Franklin, and Center Grove.

“The competition at County is very good and will definitely give our team some good races. Our main competitor at County is probably Whiteland, but I have no doubt that we can beat them this year,” junior Hailey Peckinpaugh said.

Sophomore Avah Wallischeck agreed with Peckinpaugh about the rivalry with Whiteland.

“The competition at county is tough because there are lots of great swimmers. We have to watch out for Whiteland because we beat them most years, but they always put up a good fight,” Wallischeck said.

The competition at the County level is always tough, and the swimmers have to push themselves to compete for top spots.

“Last year at County, we placed third. I think this year we’ll have to fight hard to stay in the top three,” Wallischeck said.

Junior Lucas Young reflected on how the team did last year and his expectations for this year.

“We did really well at County last year, and we had some people on the podiums. This year I think it’ll be a little more challenging, but I think we can still do well,” Young said.

The success of the team at the meet heavily depends on how each swimmer does in their individual events.

“I mainly compete in the 500 freestyle, but my other events vary based on where I’m needed. I have been swimming the 500 freestyle for a very long time, and it is by far my favorite event. Most people don’t like to swim distance events, but I love the feeling of going numb and strategizing to beat opponents,” Peckinpaugh said.

Many swimmers have to compete in multiple events at the meets.

“I compete in the 200 free relay, the 100 breast, the 200 IM, and the 200 medley relay. Doing four events in one meet can definitely be exhausting, but I still have a lot of fun,” Young said.

The teams can change drastically over the course of a year.

Our team has changed a lot since last year, when we were very senior heavy. This year, we only have three seniors. We had 36 athletes last year, and this year we only have 22,” Young said.

Regardless of the small numbers, the swimmers are motivated and ready to give their all at the County meet and the rest of the season.

“Our team has a very motivated dynamic. When practices get hard, we are very good at lifting each other up. We’re all pretty close, given the amount of time that we are constantly together, and I would say that we are very fun. We love to crack jokes and try to have as much fun as we can in and out of the pool,” Peckinpaugh said.