The NWN had a chance to sit down with head coach Dan Vander Jeugdt and discuss his expectations and plans for the upcoming Boys Varsity Swimming season.

NWN: How’s the team looking this upcoming season?

Vander Jeugdt: The team is really deep as in having a lot of kids that are going to be able to place in meets, but as far as having that one stud we are still looking for him. So with that being said, we are going to take a lot of second, third and fourth place medals.

NWN: What are practices consisting of?

Vander Jeugdt: We are doing a new training regiment; it’s brand new. We tried it out with the girls last year and they have been extremely successful with it, so we’re hoping the boys are just as successful with it.

NWN: What are this year’s goals for the team?

Vander Jeugdt: Our goal like every other year is to try and get swimmers down to state. We have been sending kids down to state for the past five years so hopefully this year shouldn’t be any different.

NWN: What are the biggest weaknesses that the team suffers from?

Vander Jeugdt: In Illinois we are the fourth fastest state in the nation, so to not  have a kid that already has a state qualifying time is going to be hard to get relays down to state. That means our swimmers are going to have to work extra hard in order to get to that level.

NWN: What are the biggest weaknesses that the team suffers from?

Vander Jeugdt: In Illinois we are the fourth fastest state in the nation so to not a have kid that already has a state qualifying time it’s going to be hard to get relays down to state, so that means that our swimmers are going to have to work extra hard in order to get to that level.

NWN: Who is going to help contribute to this year’s success?

Vander Jeugdt: Some swimmers that are going to help contribute to this year’s success are senior Lucas Brace, sophomore Sammy Paloma, and were going to have two freshman that will be moving up to varsity as well.

Check back on the story for a video coming soon