Swimmers at Roswell High School partake in a battle of endurance almost everyday. Students must attend practice before school that begins at 5:30 a.m.. Students do innumerable laps practicing strokes and speed until 6:30 a.m.. Swimmers wake up at the crack of dusk four days out of the five day school week.  

For as much practice they get, there are only one to two competitions per month. The minimal amount of meets signifies that swimmers do not have many opportunities to compete. The lack of competitions means that every single one counts and is crucial to establishing swimmers. Practices are important for students to perfect their techniques and really impress judges and coaches at competitions. Swimming is a very committing sport because waking up early to practice before school and only attending a handful of competitions. Therefore, students that are ambitious about swimming commit, which increases competition.

Will Newsom, senior, a swimmer since middle school, speaks about his experience on the swim team.

“I usually wake up at 4:45 and practice starts at 5:30. Ms. Holder caters toward the beginners by making the sets easy but also challenges the people that have been doing it for a while,” Newsom said.

He also says that swimming had taken over his life in earlier years, but he has since grown accustomed to the physical demands of the sport. There have been a few students over the last four years that he has encountered who are passionate about swimming and hope to make it to the Olympic level. Will, however, participates in swimming as a recreational sport and will continue to partake even in college. Swimming is very demanding and requires commitment, which is rewarding for those passionate about the sport.