The NWN sat down with girls varsity swimming coach Jason Macejak to discuss the upcoming season and what he is looking forward to as it goes on.
NWN: How is the team looking for this upcoming season?
Macejak: They have been training for three weeks, and they are ready for some competition. We have a very new varsity squad, and we graduated a lot of varsity in the last two years, so now we have a mixture of all classes.
NWN: Have you noticed any weaknesses?
Macejak: Strength is going to be something that the girls are going to work on, and we are going to be doing that in the weight room two days a week. As far as the swimming aspect goes, the girls are looking good, even the girls who took a lot of time off from last season, and they are starting to look really, really good in the water.
NWN: Who are your key players?
Macejak: The fastest players we have are juniors Mia Piljevic and Katelin Avenir; if I had to pick the best diver, I would say it’s senior Kelly Williams. Leadership-wise, our team is being led by seniors Gaby Gladysz and Tia Chung-Swanson.
NWN: How does this team compare to previous teams?
Macejak: In the past couple of years, we have had relays that would go after some school records, but this year our team doesn’t have those same goals. Our goal is to make sure everyone who swims, at the end of the season, is quite a bit faster than they are now, and everyone who’s diving, at the end of the season, is even better than they are now.
NWN: What are your goals for the upcoming season?
Macejak: We have talked about not comparing yourself to other people. Swimming is one of the those sports where you can look at what you’ve accomplished, and not really compare to what people around you are doing. If you’re accomplishing what you want to do, you can be successful regardless of where you are in the standings. It’s about best times and trying to advance people to the state meet. We aren’t worried about our win-loss record — that doesn’t judge how you are as an athlete and how far you come.
We wish the girls the best of luck as they embark on their journey this upcoming season. Watch them face off against Northside College Prep next Friday, Sept. 9 at 5:30 pm.
