The Seaholm Girls swim team is currently the only undefeated team at Seaholm.
They are 8-0, adding their sixth league win last Tuesday, October 13th against Berkley.
“So far we’ve been swimming well,” coach Karl Hodgson said, “but we haven’t swum against any tough teams yet.”
Adding to their success, the Maples took second in the county meet last Saturday, October 3rd, improving on last year’s 4th place finish.
“We were really surprised with how well we swam,” senior captain Melanie Rogers said. “It’s the best we’ve done in years.”
But with great success comes hard work. The Maples endure grueling two and a half hour practices Monday through Saturday and some swimmers even swim in the mornings.
“We are midway through the season which is the heart of our training,” Hodgson said, “This is the toughest part of the year practice wise.”
“Practices are really hard,” senior captain Jane Howard said, “but they are very rewarding in the end.”
“We sometimes swim four or five miles a day,” adds senior captain Alex Thane.
Last season the Maples lost Lauren Nichols, one of Seaholm’s best swimmers. Nichols was a two-time state champion and is currently swimming for Purdue. Despite this loss, they have still found ways to be successful.
“A lot of seniors have stepped up this year [including] senior Emily Parsons, and Kelly Frasier who recently broke Seaholm diving school record,” Thane said.
The Maples are trying to build on last year’s strong finish, where they placed third at the state meet.
“We had a great season last year,” said Coach Karl Hodgson. “We swam well at the end of they year and finished third which was a great bonus.”
“We were happy with last years finish,” Thane added. “It’s where we expected to place.”
The Maples have high expectations for the upcoming season. They are currently the only undefeated team in the league and are ranked top five in the state according to The Detroit News, along with local teams Marian and Mercy.
“Our goals this season are to win the league, finish at least top three at states, and for everyone to do their best,” Hodgson said.
Seaholm currently has 11 swimmers who have qualified for the state meet including Calley Murphy who finished seventh at states last year, Melanie Rogers who finished 13th and the 200m Freestyle relay team who won the county meet this year.
The Maples are also looking forward to the upcoming meet against Groves. Seaholm has beaten the Falcons the past two years and are determined to make it three.
“We’ve been looking forward to this meet all year,” Howard said.
This year’s meet comes with some added pressure. Seaholm and Groves are currently the only undefeated teams in the OAA league, and the winner of this meet will have the outright lead going into the league meet.
“Groves has some very strong swimmers, but we have more depth,” senior captain Franny Gagnier said, “and if we take advantage of this, we know we can win.”
The Maples take on the Falcons Tuesday October 20, at the Groves Natatorium.
