Picture this, you are a swimmer, you have just had a long day working at school, you are getting ready to head to practice.  Like any other school in the surrounding area, you’d just hop into the locker room and throw on your swimsuit and hit the water at 3:00pm sharp.

Unless you go to Knoch High School.

Instead of heading right to practice, we have to hop on a bus and take a 25 minute bus ride to the good ole Butler YMCA.  On any good day, depending on the condition of the road it can take longer.

“It is definitely very difficult to have a sport and no way to do it at school,” said previous coach Mr. Frishkorn.  “We don’t have baseball or softball fields but those players can go outside and practice in the field.  We spent more time on the bus than we did in the pool.”

For reference, we only have the pool rented out at the YMCA from 3:15pm to 4:30pm.  We usually hit the water around 3:30pm IF the bus is on time.

Any athlete here knows that it is difficult to achieve the proper amount of training if you only have one hour to squeeze in a warm up, distance/sprint set, and a proper cool down.

Many students aren’t even aware that we have a swim team.  Our numbers have dropped significantly over the past few years, which causes strain on our swimmers.

“The more swimmers we have, the more evenly spread we are across events,” said senior Caden Traggai.  “With more events filled, we are able to focus on individualized events and personal goals like making WPIALS and States!”

Many could make the argument of not wanting a pool because they don’t want to swim in gym class, they don’t want to ruin their hair or makeup, but in the long run, learning how to swim is an important skill that everyone should know.

“Swimming is such a good sport for your body.  It works all your muscles but there is a very slight chance of injury,” says coach Frishkorn.

Some may also pose the point that a pool is not a cheap thing to construct.

There is no denying that, but is preventing a potential drowning death worth it?

“Every student could take swimming in Gym class and learn to swim, if that saves one life then it is worth the cost,” says Frishkorn.

A 2017 study found that 64 percent of African American children, 45 percent of Hispanic children, and 40 percent of Caucasian children in the U.S. have no or low swimming ability, putting them at risk for drowning.

By having these swimming class programs set into place in schools, water accidents could be prevented and more lives could potentially be saved.

Throughout my personal time being a swimmer, I have gained so many memories on this team that I am so absolutely thankful for, it is an amazing sport that has helped me become the person I am today.

With the new construction breaking ground this summer, (see Natalie Totterdale’s article), now is the time to be considering adding this to the blueprint.

I will leave you all with this: if you are looking for something to do this winter, come out for the swim team, we have tons of fun, no experience needed!