The echo of the crowd rings off the walls as the buzzer sounds the start to the race. Swimmers fly off their diving boards into the water wanting nothing but to beat their personal record. Competing against no one but themselves. One swimmer in particular knows the feeling all too well.
Senior Ethan Olsen has been a part of the team for three years. His close friend, Eli Christ, encouraged him to join during his sophomore year, advertising it as nothing but a good time.
“I really fell in love with it, and I owe Eli a lot for that,” Olsen said.
After high school Olsen plans to attend Brigham Young University to study business, although he is unsure what department he would like to pursue. He also wants to participate in intramural swimming because he is unable to compete at the college level. Olsen said he enjoys many aspects of being on the swim team, but going to swim meets takes first place in his eyes.
“Competing and hanging out with friends the entire day is so much fun,” he said.
Olsen has set several goals for his senior season. For example, consistently being under one minute for the 100-meter freestyle as well as ranking 105 for the 100-meter fly. He aims to break six minutes for the 500-meter freestyle and swim 25 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle. As his senior season progresses Olsen said he knows the unfortunate truth of the fun coming to an end.
“It’s flying by. I mean I love it, but I know it’s gonna end soon so I’m trying to cherish all the moments,” he explained.
From a coach’s point of view, swimming is a completely different experience. Coach Molly Arps has been the assistant coach for both CMR and Great Falls High School for eight years. She’s been swimming her whole life, from the time she could swim until she was 18, it has been her main sport. She attended Montana State University in Bozeman for health enhancement K-12 and earned a minor in coaching. Arps enjoys many aspects of coaching, but seeing athletes’ improvements takes the cake.
“We get to watch everybody grow throughout the seasons, and it seems like everyone makes these leaps and bounds. Like it’s not just little improvements; everyone improves in a large way,” Arps said.
Along with Arps, there are several other coaches creating such a positive environment. Head coach Ed McNamee teaches criminal justice at Great Falls High School, Brianna Conrad is a teacher at the Early Learning Center, and Jessie Bisacre is a math teacher at Great Falls High. They work together to bring CMR and GFHS closer and to help athletes improve their skills and workmanship.
“I think we are going to see people improve drastically on their times with maybe the potential of sneaking in for a trophy, which is what we wanna see,” Arps said.
Seeing all the enhancements athletes are making one swimmer comes to mind.
Junior Deuce Nichols joined the swim team for the first time and has already advanced onto the varsity team. Wanting to come out of his comfort zone, Nichols decided to join on a whim. He said he didn’t expect anything much but to have fun. As a multi-sport athlete, Nichols also participates in CMR cross country and is a part of the Chargers AA Baseball team. As a first year swimmer, Nichols has set his sights on going to state and competing in swimming next year as a senior.
“Just to keep trying to get better every day,” Nichols said. “If I want to make it to state I have to practice like it.” Nichols said.
Competing in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle, 200-meter freestyle relay, and 400-meter freestyle relay, Nichols works hard each day at practice. His favorite aspect of the swim team is being with all his teammates and going to weekly pasta parties. Convincing a new student to join the team would come with ease for Nichols, as he has had nothing but a good time.
“Just come give it a try, it’s only been good experiences for me so far,” he said. “You meet a lot of new people, and they’re all really nice.”
