Last year, the EHS girls swim team claimed its fifth consecutive sectional championship.  The team is expecting similar results this season.

“The team is putting more effort into practice, and we are scoring about the same as last season,” junior Autumn Grinter said.

With only three meetings remaining, the team is approaching the end of its season.

This was sophomore Taylor Wilkerson’s first year on the EHS girls swim team, and she has found the experience tremendously rewarding.

“Since this is my first year, I expected to be behind, but I have managed to improve a lot,” Wilkerson said.  “I did not expect to make as many friends as I have and to love being part of a team as much as I do.”

Wilkerson said the meets and personal records were not the only highlights of the season.  She also enjoyed bonding activities, such as team breakfasts.

“Sometimes after Saturday morning practice someone on the team hosted breakfast for the entire team,” she said.

Senior Margaret Grieve has been swimming for EHS for the past four years and said she had high hopes for herself going into the season.

“My expectations for myself were to improve my 500 freestyle time, and I am still working on that,” Grieve said.  “It has been a challenge, but I am seeing small improvements, so hopefully I can get there by the end.”

Senior Josephine Bushell was a state qualifier in the 100-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle last year, according to the Intelligencer.

Her success has continued into this year.  She placed first in both the 200-yard freestyle and the 400-yard individual medley at the annual Swim for HOPE Invite.  She also placed first in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle at the team’s opening meet.

Her fast times are not only beneficial to her individual score, but also contribute greatly to the team’s results.

“Unlike the club season, which is more individual, this is more of a team and you have to swim faster for the team,” Bushell said to the Intelligencer.

The highlight of Bushell’s season was when the team traveled to suburban Chicago for an invite for the first time.  She placed first in the 50 freestyle.  She was also part of the 200-yard freestyle relay (alongside junior Autumn Grinter, freshman Ava Whittaker and junior Allison Naylor), which placed third in the meet.

Bushell believes the team has both improved in some events, while losing talent in others.

“Our swim team has gotten better and scored more points than last year as we got a lot of good freshmen this year,” she said. “But we have no divers this year, so we have lost points in that part of the meets.”

However, Bushell said that at this point in the season, it is difficult to compare this year to last because the two most revealing meets have not happened yet.

“We still haven’t had our two biggest meets, sectionals and state, which will show how much we have improved from last year,” Bushell said.

Sophomore Josephine O’Day is sad to see the season end, but she is excited for the year’s last two meets.

“I really enjoy watching my friends and improving with every meet,” O’Day said.