The swim team will compete in the district championship meet at the LISD Westside Aquatic Center on Jan. 24.

During swim meets, swimmers race in individual events, featuring different strokes, such as freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly before finishing the meet with more relays. The top six qualifiers from each event will advance to regionals.

“We’re going to do [well,]” junior Dane Johnson said. “Our 400 free relay is strong, and I think some of my teammates are going to make it far in regionals.”

Last year, the team had 13 seniors who went into districts, with two qualifying for state. This year, the team has only two seniors competing in the meet: Anna Lee Baumann and Joshua Roy.

“A lot of [last year’s] seniors were going to make it to state or regionals who were fast,” Baumann said. “Our team after the seniors left became mostly a water polo team since most of those [new] kids weren’t as fast at swimming.”

After 16 seniors graduated last year, the juniors during the start of this year’s season invited the younger members of the team out to eat. Johnson said the juniors stepped up and showed the underclassmen a dedicated work ethic by holding each other accountable and encouraging each other to put in effort, setting a standard that the underclassmen naturally followed.

“At the start of the season, we were looking a little shaky,” Johnson said. “That’s because we came out of water polo season and we [had not] put as many hours into swimming. But as the season went along, I’ve seen improvement in everyone — everyone has [improved their] times.”

This year, the team will have five girls competing in the district meet.

“It’s a complete rebuild [from last year],” head coach Donzie Lilly said. “There are girls that have never gone to districts that are stepping up to the plate, and it’s going to be tight. Usually we’re accustomed to taking all three relays to region. The girls are going to have to work extra hard to find that sixth place.”

Baumann said the team focuses on overcoming the challenges, with a focus on teamwork, strength and motivation heading towards the meet. A part of this will allow them to drop seconds every meet and season.

“When [the team is] younger, it’s fun and exciting to see their improvements,” Lilly said. “As they’re older, it’s a different mental [and] physical game as their bodies develop. [A] little bit of time can mean a difference between sixth place and third place.”