No shocker here, but at MSV, we love all swimming. Club, country club, YMCA, masters, college, elite national, and high school swimming. We love it all!! Each shares some of the commonality swimming in general has, but each have their own nuisances that make them unique and special. Here’s what MSV loves about high school swimming:
- The Team – Swimming is definitely not an individual sport on any level, but in high school, you get a group of kids all roughly the same age and mostly go to the same school. There are amazing opportunities to create lifelong friendships. With a six year age range, there is also great opportunities for older kids to mentor the younger ones. Those relationships mean the world to a younger athlete and strong bonds form in high school swimming.
- Senior Night – We absolutely love taking the time to recognize the seniors that have spent up to six years growing and developing as athletes and people in our programs. How each team runs their senior night is a little different, but no matter what, it’s an emotional time and a worthwhile pause to celebrate all they have given to the program over the years and how far they have come.
- Walkouts – Not all teams do these, but we personally love the home team coming out of the locker room to good pump up music. Everything in life should be set to music in our opinion, but we are a little weird like that. It’s a great way to set the energy for a dual meet. Bonus cred for lighting effects and props.
- Diving – We do love diving even though we intentionally replaced Dive with Vibe in our name. The divers can do stuff that most swimmers have no business trying. It’s a nice change of pace for the meet and who doesn’t love a good diver relay or the one person that loudly gasps every time they come close to the board??
- Cheering – there should be cheering for athletes in all forms of swimming, but it gets taken up a notch or two at the high school level. The louder the better and get a little creative. We love the cheering!!
- Honorable Mention: No 200 Fly.