Swim and dive to host senior night at Dec. 8 dual meet

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Photo by Katherine Parker

Junior Avery Gallucci practices butterfly during morning practice in October of last year. Gallucci will be competing in the 50 meter and 100 meter races at the dual-meet on Dec. 8.

The swim team will host senior night at the dual meet against Denton Braswell Dec. 8 at 5:30 p.m. at the LISD Eastside Aquatic Center.

“We will be honoring our seniors that are on the team,” head coach Donzie Lily said. “We will swim some events [and] have some fun. We are going to be giving our seniors their spotlight before we begin to look forward to districts.”

The seniors will have a chance to talk to the team and reflect on their last four years in the sport. They will be receiving recognition from the team for their show of leadership and perseverance.

“We will be walking across the bulkhead to show that we’ve made it all four years,” senior Joshua Pearson said. “We’ll talk about what our next steps are and our passions. It’s a really great way of recognizing the seniors.”

Swimmers have practiced five days a week to prepare for competition and maintain fitness. Practices typically begin at 6:15 a.m. and end at 8:45 a.m. with swimmers usually spending an hour completing weightlifting and cardio prior to an hour of swimming.

“Our coach works us really hard two or three times a week, and we’ll have cool off practices in between,” junior Avery Gallucci said. “Before big meets, like district, we will taper off for the whole week. That way, once we’re [competing], our bodies are ready to [swim] as hard as they can.”

The meet will be a “gauntlet” for seniors; they will be competing in all events, rather than the usual two.

“I plan to race the 100-meter breaststroke and the 100-meter freestyle,” Pearson said. “My goals are to drop five seconds on the 100-meter breaststroke [and] I also want to focus on being less stressed [at the meets].”

Pearson said the team has worked together throughout the season to support one another, whether that be at workouts or meets. This will be the sixth meet of the season, with only one meet left before districts.

“We’re really like a tight-knit family,” Pearson said. “I keep up with everyone on the team and it’s a great way to build a family outside [of] your family. They are great people that I can trust with almost everything.”