The default iPhone alarm begins to fill the pitch-black room with noise. At this signal, senior Kathleen Rose rolls over to snooze it. After a few extra minutes of rest, she hops out of bed and gets ready for swim class.
Every weekday at 5:30 a.m., varsity swimmers arrive at the natatorium and practice until 7:15 a.m. Each swimmer uses these practices to prepare for swim meets where they have the opportunity to earn personal records for different events. While Rose aims for personal records, she wants to focus more on enjoyment at every swim meet.
"I'm very sad that it’s my senior year," Rose said. "I'm just trying to have as much fun as I can since it’s my last year."
Rose swims the 500 freestyle, the longest event in a high school swim meet. To get faster, she practices different paces and finds which one works for her. At swim practice, Rose demonstrates her skills to underclassmen to help them improve their technique.
"I just try to be a leader," Rose said. "I want them to be able to carry the team next year."
Rose, along with other varsity swimmers, set different goals to motivate them through swim season. They also rely on encouragement from one another.
All Mansfield Legacy High School swimmers will compete in district on Jan. 20. Before this swim meet, swimmers will continue to practice on the weekdays and some holidays.
"Swimming is obviously a mental game," Rose said. "It's self-paced, so you can only do good if you push yourself."
"Balancing swim and schoolwork is a massive challenge because swimming takes up much of my time. Going from a two-hour practice to multiple two-hour practices is just like throwing me into the deep end. Once I hit my sophomore year though, I kind of figured it out." - Jackson Stapleton, 12 (Caroline Schliecker photo)
