ARBUCKLE, CA (MPG) – Before sunrise and some two hours prior to school starting, a small group of athletes make their way to the Pierce Pool for early morning practice and in doing so are making school history by being part of the first ever Bear swim team.
Of the eleven swimmers, only one has ever swam competitively, but that hasn’t dampened their enthusiasm in Sacramento Valley League meets that include teams from Durham, Gridley, Orland, Oroville, Paradise and Winters.
For head coach Chloe Williams, the goal this year is simple – “keep improving.”
“We want to see best times at meets and also get more swimmers to come out next year,” said Williams, who swam both on a club and the high school team in Davis.
She also said that all of her swimmers are multi-sport athletes and are using the opportunity to help them condition for winter and spring sports.
One of those is senior Grace Szmurlo, a member of the Bear wrestling team, who in addition to enjoying her experience, is looking forward to seeing how being in the pool pays off.
“I really love it,” said Szmurlo. It’s a small team and everybody is just starting off so there is no judgement. I’m coming off a knee injury so I couldn’t run cross country or play volleyball. This is perfect for conditioning and I’m hoping it improves my upper body strength as well.”
As for the early morning practices, Szmurlo is taking a pragmatic approach commenting that, “They are a bit hard, but it does give me free time after school and maybe it will toughen me up.”
Pierce has three SVL meets left this season, the first in Oroville on Oct. 7, before they head to Winters on Oct. 14 and the conference championships in Durham on Oct. 21.