Everything about the scene is familiar: the strong stench of chlorine, the shimmer of the clear blue water and the hustle and bustle as team members prepare for day one of practice. The only surprise: a total of 84 faces, adding new depth to a team purged by redistricting over the past two years.

As the AHS swim team prepares for their first meet of the season, expectations run high as they hope to contend for the Patriot District Championship behind newfound depth.

“I want to get six relays and six divers into regionals,” Head Coach Neal Jarvis said.

“I’m hoping that a lot of the team places in districts, does well in regionals and hopefully makes states,” senior Willie Labarca said.

After the first week of practice, which was a tryout for the team, coaches April Brassard, Donna Kruse and Jarvis were faced with the difficult task of choosing which of the 84 who tried out would make the squad.

“We have a lot of  depth this year,” Jarvis said.

With the final roster having been decided, the second week of practice got a little tougher on swimmers, with a typical workout consisting of 3,000 yards of swimming.

While that may seem like a lot of laps, the workouts are only expected to get tougher and tougher, with the ultimate goal being regular workouts of 3,500 yards or more.

Many members of the team swim during the summer or year-round, with programs such as the Potomac Marlins, Mason Makos and Machine Aquatics being some of the most popular year-round teams.

“I swim year-round and it’s prepared me a lot for this season,” sophomore Sarah Padrutt said.

Although the main goal of the team is to win the district championship, all the swimmers set their own individual goals.

“I want to beat the 50-yard freestyle record,” Labarca said.

“My goal for this year is to cut a lot of time from my 500-yard freestyle time,” junior Dylan Gore said.

The team conditions from Mondays to Thursdays at Audrey Moore RECenter, practicing from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., which is a change from their practice times of 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. last year.

At the beginning of the year, it was unclear whether or not the team would be able to use the RECenter on Wednesdays due to athletic budget cuts. However, the decision was reversed from last season and the team has been allowed to practice there on Wednesdays.

In addition, the team will have dryland practices at the school on Fridays from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. until the first meet of the year. The team also gathers at Lake Accotink Park on Saturdays for dryland practices, which consist of runs around the lake.

“The practice load has been really good this year,” senior Alec Montes de Oca said. “It’s helping me and everyone else on the team get in shape.”

“I used to be fat, but swim team made me skinny,” sophomore James Barker said.

“It’s really easy,” senior Taylor Swann said. “We don’t have dryland every day, which is fantastic.”

“I think we will have a very successful year,” junior Joe Rolen said. “Winning the district would be the candle on the cake.”