SAN DIEGO – It’s been an interesting season to say the least for Mt. Carmel High School seniors on the swim and dive team.
“It’s honestly been kind of scary because for swim, we can’t have our masks on when we train,” Mt. Carmel senior Katie Kidd said. “It’s kind of on and off. You get a little scared but you also have to trust the process.
“The masks are a bit hard because when you get out of the pool, you have to put them on when you’re wet but other than that, it’s been pretty good.”
The Sundevils don’t just have 12 seniors on their squad. They have 12 committed seniors going to college, each one trying to make the most of their last high school season.
“I’m really happy we have the opportunity to get back into the water and train,” senior Tim Godin said. “I really like the team this year.”
With COVID-19 protocols like splitting the JV and varsity teams on walls for practice, being broken up into cohorts with assigned lanes and arriving already changed into their swimsuits, they consider it all worth it to have one final season.
It was just last March when the team was told one week before their first meet, they would have no season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was honestly really sad thinking about all the things we were going to miss out on,” Kidd said. “It was my junior season of swim, so it would’ve been the third time I would’ve qualified for CIFs and state and it was honestly really sad missing out on such a big experience.”
It’s been less than two months since they officially began practice again.
“I was really happy just to get back to the pool and being able to just have the possibility of competing,” senior Megin Takeuchi said.
It’s a season nobody is taking for granted, getting to compete in a sport they love with friends the pandemic prevented them from seeing as often as they’d like.
“It’s really important being out with all your friends and being able to talk to people for the first time in almost a year,” Kidd said. “It’s really nice to be able to just talk to your friends and really have a real conversation but also be laid back with all your friends as well.”