By: Flora Wade
Success isn't driven by the size of a team, but the amount of dedication put into practice, the change in lifestyle and the amount of effort put into achieving one's goals.
The Salem High School boys and girls swim teams, coached by highschool teachers, Amy Whitlatch and Chandra White, have put in numerous hours and effort towards their 2023-24 season. Each team fought for 100% personal records and members from both teams broke multiple school records as well.
¨The dedication of each swimmer who completed the season cannot be replicated by any other sport,” said Whitlatch. “The time put in by those swimmers are what gave the season's results.¨
Senior Isabel Tunney has broken four school records this year alone. Overtime, her name has been added to the list of school records since middle school. There have been many coaching changes over the years and each has brought different expectations for each swimmer. Many athletes lose their motivation after coaches lose their confidence in their teams. The drive to win is lost in the changes and conflicts of high school sports. Salem has struggled with the size of the swim teams for many years, once again causing a conflict. They lost many relay teams because of numbers and had difficulty winning meets because of the amount of swimmers competing for points.
With any issues that came their way, the team fought back.
“Winning meets in swimming is also just about who has the bigger team so it was impossible to win against any school when we only had a few swimmers,” said Tunney. “So the season definitely started off pretty bad, but by the end, I think Tori and I would both agree that this year was our favorite year of all.
Whitlach is definitely a tough coach, but she is also one of the most caring coaches I've ever had. I think this season was so fun and everyone improved greatly. I'm definitely happy that I stuck it out because I was able to accomplish so much individually.¨
Whitlatch brought the motivation back to the team and helped bring Tunney a memorable season. Tunney put in a large amount of effort and time into accomplishing her goals and said, ¨I dropped time in almost every event this year, and I owe that to Whitlach for sure. I think getting PR's and setting goals for the season definitely made me a better athlete. It pushed me to work harder at every practice and just overall helped with my mental attitude. It gave me a purpose to show up everyday and give the sport my all.¨
Tunney broke the 200 Freestyle, 100 Fly, 100 Freestyle and the 100 Backstroke records. Her dedication brought a spotlight to the teams, and she has made a mark at Salem that can't be recreated by any other student athlete.
Whitlatch said the conference meet for both was a turning point for all of the swimmers, with conference wins in six individual events and a relay.
“But the improvement of the swimmers was not by tenths of seconds, but by tens of seconds,” said. “Every swimmer made large drops in their events. The best possible moments were the smiles, laughs, and seeing each of them come out of their shells and show who they truly are.¨
Sophomore Cally Karmire is one of many who has dropped ¨tens of seconds.¨ This was her first season as a high school swimmer, and it was a big jump from middle school swimming.
The competition increased and the mentality of the sport opened a new perspective for Karmire.
¨Swimming has made me realize how much of the sport is purely mental,” she said. “This season taught me that getting out of your head before meets is the only way to ensure that you swim your best.¨
She said not only do you become physically tired, but your thoughts interfere with how you perform. Continuing to fight through every aspect of difficulty is what brought Karmire through the season, her determination is what brought her so many wins.
¨Overall it has made me a better athlete, just because of how vigorous the sport itself is, but mostly, it helped me overcome mental challenges that I had towards the beginning of the season,¨ she said.
The boys team had extensive accomplishments as well. Senior Jonny Tally ended his season with three school records. Tally dropped enough time to break the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle records. After losing a senior last year and having little numbers this year, the boys relay team was unsure of how they would do. After persevering through each practice, the relay team broke a school record.
The 400 freestyle relay team consisted of Tally, Evan Cooper (junior), Blake Applegate (sophomore) and Macaiah Mather (freshman). Each student had to adapt and connect with one another to push for this goal. They were all new to one another and through this relay they fought for one common goal: to win.
The improvements from where they were just last season, to where they are now is clearly seen in times and placements in events. Each individual had a personal record, and many more swimmers were sent to the second round of sectionals this year compared to last year.
Cooper worked to get to the second round.
¨As the season progressed the whole team got so much better and we became better swimmers,” he said. “Now that the sectionals are over, the team is so thankful that we had a challenging coach and tough practices because now we are way better than we were last season at that time.¨
Each team member sets specific goals for themselves at the beginning of the season and Cooper had his eye on the 400 Relay record, and to drop time in his 500 Free. Proof of his accomplishments lie on the record board in the SMS pool.
¨We smashed the 400 yard freestyle relay record, and I ended up swimming my personal best in the 500 freestyle with a 5:35, beating my personal record by 48 seconds,¨ said Cooper.
Not only did he drop time, he dropped time by 48 seconds, which is a very big accomplishment for any swimmer.
¨Overall a great season and by far my favorite,¨ he said.
The SHS swim teams proved that size doesn't determine what one can accomplish. It isn't the recognition the teams get from the school or the amount of people showing up to the meets. Proof of accomplishment is in Isabel Tunney, who has broken multiple school records. Proof is in Cally Karmire who tried her hardest and achieved so much despite the new sport, new members and a new coach. It’s in Evan Cooper, who tried his hardest and met the goals he set for himself through dedication. Amy Whitlatch is proof that being a new coach shouldn't affect what a team can accomplish, because despite the numbers, her confidence in the teams brought them the wins they worked for.