State Meet Preparation

by: Abigail Keane

Fall sports come to an end, teams go off into their state tournaments and the swim team heads into their first of three rounds of state meets.

The Wethersfield High School’s Swim Team recently headed into their state meets starting with Class L Trials on Saturday, November 16. The team went into this meet with 18 girls swimming events, with the team able to swim more than one event and/or relay. If they are able to sneak in the top 24 of the swimmers in an event based on time, you move on to Class L Finals which took place on Wednesday, November 20th. The team took 4th overall with 11 swimmers in the meet and 5 being awarded the honor of “All-State”.

 These meets can mean a lot, all season the girls have hard practices, which come to an end with a near to states, which is called “taper”. The point of taper is so the more rest you are getting at practice, the faster you are able to move at practice to prepare for the meet. The team also where a different type of suit at these meets, as some might be at the conference for the team. This suit can be extremely tight and hard to get on a times as they go from your knee up to your shoulder. The start to states can bring a lot of good and bad emotions to your psyche and body. 

When asked in the survey sent to those competing in states, “What emotions make you race better?”, junior Haley Krawcyzk, who competed in the 100 Fly and 50 Free at both Class L Trials and went on to Class L finals, had a very well thought out answer. Haley was able to be a part of the 200 Free and 400 Free Relay and continue exactly what she wanted to do in going through her races for the team. Krawcyzk said, “I like the feeling of doing it for the team, not yourself. I think it makes it less personal so my race isn’t so attached to me as a person. That’s why I like relays. Being excited to try your best and having confidence that you will do well is much more motivating than being super nervous or even scared.”.

When asked in another response question to some of the girls on the state team “What is one ritual you have the day of states?”, You find that many people are superstitious about what they so or eat the day of a big meet while others don’t even think to repeat the same thing twice. As these meets can be a big deal for some people personal and team’s future. A junior, who was able to swim the 200 IM and 100 Breastroke at Class L Trails and qualify for Class L Final in the 200 IM, Mia Destefani has said to have two things she does most of the time, “I get a coffee and I listen to music.” 

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