Holy Trinity’s varsity swim teams have started their seasons with a splash. With the girls winning their first meet against Cornerstone Charter Academy and both teams winning their latest meet against MCC, the athletes have set high goals for the rest of their season. 

Head Coach Tiffany DeAngelis is in her sixth year coaching Holy Trinity’s swim and dive teams. This year, there are a total of 53 athletes on the boys and girls teams who compete in a variety of events.

“We go by time and experience,” DeAngelis said. “We can only enter so many swimmers in each event, so we look at the availability and go from there based on how they’ll perform and how close the events are back to back for everyone.”

Training for the swim teams starts at the beginning of August, with weekly practices held Monday through Thursday from 3:15 to 4:15.

“Practices usually consist of warmup, drills or a set, a main set, sprints, and a cooldown,” junior Violet Flores said.

Flores has been a member of Holy Trinity’s swim team since seventh grade, but has swam competitively since she was six years old. She competes in the 50m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 200m freestyle relay, 4×100 freestyle relay, and the 200m individual medley. As one of the team captains this year, she’s taken on many leadership opportunities and responsibilities.

“I help the swimmers know what to do at meets and where to be, as well as understand what they’re doing,” Flores said.

Senior Noah Bailey is also a team captain this year and has been a member of Holy Trinity’s swim program since ninth grade, competing in the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle. As a leader on the team, Bailey helps keep the athletes organized and positive at practices and competitions.

“As a team captain, I’m responsible for ensuring everyone knows which events they are swimming in, promoting positive energy at meets, and helping to lead drills at practice,” Bailey said.

All of the athletes have set high goals for themselves, including competing in the regional and state competitions later in the season. Flores’ goal this season is to make it to the state competition again this year with her relay team, made up of senior captain Natalie Doig, junior Mckenna Corris, and freshman Paige Wolff.

“I like how much fun the team has together,” Flores said. “I hope to be able to go to states once again with my relay team and to get personal records in all my main events.”

Bailey shares similar goals and expectations for this season, hoping to qualify for regionals and states while also having fun in his last year on the team. 

“I want to qualify for all of my individual events in the regionals and get my relay events to states,” Bailey said. “My goals for the team this season are for more people to qualify for regionals and for us as a team to place well in districts. Overall, though, I want everyone to find as much enjoyment in swimming as I do.”

As for the coach’s goals for the teams this year, DeAngelis hopes to push each athlete to improve in their events, while also enjoying their experiences on the team. 

“My main thing is that everyone has fun and that they are able to see themselves reach their individual and team goals,” DeAngelis said. “If we can help make your high school experience an enjoyable and memorable one full of fun and hard work, then we’ve succeeded in our goal.”