What do you get when you combine two seniors, one state qualifier, and 24 years of experience? A great swim season.

Sophomore Connor Spanos met both of his goals this season. One was to swim a “55 second 100 fly,” which is swimming down and back two times, and to make it to state was his second goal. Connor was a state qualifier and got 8th place. He reflects that he had a “great experience this year, and [he’s] excited for [his] next two years!” He has been swimming for seven years, and started when he was only eight. When the pool is open Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, Connor arrives at school at six in the morning to swim. That shows some serious dedication.

Two senior swimmers this season were Elena Hamner and Megan Koster. Megan has been swimming in Seward for seven years, including The Tsunami Swim Club, and started competing in the sport when she was 10 years old. “It was a season, very busy and very fun” is how Megan felt about her final year at SHS. In the future, Megan says that she does not want to swim competitively, but definitely swim for fun. Also, Megan wants future swimmers to know that they should “keep going and try [their] hardest.”
Elena Hamner is also a senior this year and has been swimming for 10 years. She was first introduced to the sport in 2008 with the Seward Tsunami Swim Club when she “tried it and starting advancing pretty rapidly.” Elena’s outlook on this season was that it,“went by too fast,” and she says it was “interesting… had some good and bad to it.” The “bad” refers to Elena’s concern due to her previous shoulder injury. However, she “overcame it and got through the season.” Elena said she wants people to know that those “swimmers who have been swimming [a long time may tend to] burn out,” but that they should “give [high school swim team] a chance.”

SHS wishes Megan and Elena the best of luck in their future endeavors, and we look forward to more state qualifiers next season.