After a season filled with countless practices and weekly meets, the Stoughton High School swim team sent five girls to the WIAA Division II state swim meet on Friday, Nov. 10, at Waukesha South High School.
The team competed in four events, including two relays. These relays were the 200-yard medley consisting of Julia Lehman (12), Cheyenne Borroughs (10), Ainsley Gerard (10), and Trinity Dreyer (12), which earned 15th place, and the 400-yard freestyle consisting of Borroughs, Aubrey Hutchins (12), Dreyer, and Gerard that took 10th place.
Along with the relays, Borroughs also competed in two individual events, the 50-yard freestyle, where she earned second place with a time of 23.87 seconds, and the 100-yard breaststroke, where she also earned second place with a time of 1 minute 4 seconds. Both these times were also new school records, one of which she had already previously broken.
“One of my goals [this season] was to get under 24 seconds in the 50 free, which I was able to do, so I was proud of that. [I also hoped] to earn first [at state] in the 100 breaststroke, which, unfortunately, I didn’t get to this year, but hopefully, next year, I will,” Borroughs said.
The girls on the team practiced hard in order to accomplish their goals.
“At the beginning of the season, we all set goals and times for each event, and by the end of the season, I was able to meet half of them, which was [something I hoped to accomplish],” Hutchins said. “The most important goal that I reached [this season] was getting under a minute in the 100-yard freestyle, which helped me get to state.”
Dreyer also accomplished many of the goals she had set.
“I got to improve my technique and endurance over the course of the season. I worked on continuing to PR in different events at each meet,” Dreyer said. “I also got to bond with my teammates, which helped to create an encouraging and comfortable atmosphere. We knew that we had all worked hard throughout the season and trusted each other to do our part in the [state] relay.”
At the start of the season, the team practiced five to six times a week with their coaches, Heather Solis and Austin Ayers. There, they learned new techniques to get into the mindset of their upcoming race.
“Our coach, [Ayers], will call it ‘hammer down,’ where you get in the mindset of just swimming and not focusing on anything else [besides] your race,” Borroughs said.
The team used the ‘hammer down’ technique throughout the season, especially as they prepared for the state meet. Along with this technique, they also switched up their usual drills during practices to train for state.
“Preparation for the state meet differed from our normal practices because we did taper. [We] started [tapering] the week before sectionals when we wore leggings [while swimming] to add drag, upped our intensity, and lowered our yardage. The week before the state meet, we kept our high-intensity, low-yardage sets and worked on our relay starts and turns,” Dreyer said.
After a little over a week of practice, the state meet arrived and was unlike any other competition the team had participated in.
“The environment was filled with nervous excitement. It was much louder than any other meet I had been to. The gym where we waited to be called for our events was filled with swimmers watching the TVs and cheering on their teammates. The pool deck was even louder, with fans on both sides,” Dreyer said.
Despite the difference in the environment at the state meet, the girls were able to swim to the best of their abilities with the support of their coaches and team members.
“Our coaches always have encouraging words and good advice after we finish a race- whether we got a best time or not, and teammates are at the end of the lane cheering you on throughout your race,” Dreyer said.
Overall, the team worked hard and had a very successful season.
“Everyone on the team did really well, especially the new swimmers that came in, considering this is one of their first times ever swimming or being a part of a high school team. […] I think everyone did really well [transitioning] because […] swimming is definitely a hard sport.” Borroughs said.