Coming off their water polo season and a successful district performance, the aquatics team is staring down regionals.

“We have regionals in about two weeks and I think our team is ready. I think we’re gonna do really good, especially on the boys side,” junior Carolina Mauldin said. “They won district, so I think they’re really ready to do well at region.”

Athletes compete in a variety of events and each has their preferred heats.

“There’s a couple different events. It depends on what you choose from a district,” Mauldin said. “So for me, I’m in the 200 freestyle relay, and the two medley relay, and then the 200 freestyle individual, and then the 500 freestyle individual.”

Along the way, the team has grown through events meant to strengthen their relationship outside of the pool.

“We’ve practiced all year long and we have practiced every morning at seven and we’ve had a couple of team dinners and parties just to get together and have a good time,” Mauldin said. “I think we have a lot closer team. We do a lot of outside events that I feel like really strengthened our bonds.”

Daily practices and encouragement has led to some personal improvements.

“I definitely have seen improvement in my turns and my stroke rate and kind of being able to keep up and go a little faster every time I swim,” Mauldin said. “I’ve probably struggled with different events other than freestyle, so there’s medley, which is all the events to all of the strokes, fly back breasts and free. Definitely that is a little harder.”

And the upperclassmen still have their eyes on the future and the health of the program long after they’ve graduated.

“I feel like people have gotten a lot more excited to swim and we’ve had a lot of drops in time, so they got a lot faster, and I’m really proud,” Mauldin said. “Especially of the freshman girls who’ve really improved this year.”