With only one meet left before the AHS swim and dive team’s district meets, participants prepare for the final stretch more than ever. A group of freshmen swimmers intensely shout “We are going to unleash the fury!”

This has become a well known phrase to AHS swimmers to get them hyped up before meets. The team’s previous meets against W.T. Woodson and West Springfield High School broke the boy’s team’s winning streak this season, losing to West Springfield by a small margin.

 “One of the things we need to improve on before Districts is really focusing on our goals,” said junior Katie Panther. “We need to forget about the meets we’ve lost and concentrate on the upcoming ones.”

The girls also lost both meets with about a hundred points difference. Panther’s goal is for the girl’s to come back and place at least fourth in districts, and hopefully improve their standing.

 For most sports teams, hearing that you have a home game is welcoming and exciting news. However, this is not the case for AHS swimmers and divers.

Many members of the team feel that home team advantage has a negative impact on their performance.

The dislike of competing in the same pool they practice in is the same reason field players look forward to home games. This mentality by team members could have negatively factored into the West Springfield loss at their home pool.

However, it is time for the Atoms to put all losses behind them and move forward. Districts are approaching quickly, and swimmers and divers are in full preparation. 

Head coach Neal Jarvis is looking for improvement during Districts. “A lot of people are looking to beat their personal records; the boy’s have a very good shot at winning and the girls have the chance to be very competitive,” said Jarvis.

The team is also feeling pretty optimistic for the future meets. “I believe districts will go very well, because we are the top team aside from Woodson and West Springfield,” said senior Kayvon Naghdi.

 A key fact in coming back strong in districts and is realizing mistakes in past meets and learning from them in order to improve.

“I think we need to be more competitive and really fight to get to the wall first,” said freshman swimmer Betsy Kruse. The Atoms will be competing against tough opponents, who will only increase in skill should AHS progress past districts.  It will be a fight to the finish for AHS Swim and Dive Team, for both boys and girls.

“We have been working very hard during our intense workouts and have been practicing our dives repetitively,” said sophomore Paige Blennerhassett.