Putting consecutive years of success together in swimming may be a challenge, but the basics are straightforward.
If a swimmer does well in an event, he or she should keep training, building endurance and perfecting techniques. Thorough that work, the swimmer likely will equal or improve the performance the following year.
But continued success for relay teams can be trickier. Rarely does a relay return four members from one year to the next, and often the combination changes throughout the season.
The Lampeter-Strasburg girls have been very successful with relay teams in recent seasons. Last February, the Pioneers set a school record in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a 1:43.29, good for a fourth-place medal at the District Three Class 2A meet. Seniors Kylie Gerhardt and Zara Paisley are back from that team, though Ashley Prouse and Krista Lambert have graduated.
This winter, Gerhardt and Paisley have been a part of all three relays — the others being the 200 medley and the 400 freestyle. But which ones they will participate in and who will make up each foursome is always in flux.
“Our coach (Kylie Hearn) has been working on different combinations,” Gerhardt said. “But when we go against a team without a relay, sometimes she breaks us up into two relay teams that are evenly matched. I like that. I get to swim with some teammates that I’m not usually with.”
On Thursday in a win over Conestoga Valley, Gerhardt and Paisley joined Addie Rodriguez and Jocelyn Wolff to post a season-best 2:08.76 in the 200 medley relay. They have also been posting solid times in their individual swims.
Gerhardt has season bests of 27.82 in the 50 freestyle and 1:01.63 in the 100 backstroke. Paisley has season bests of 54.10 in the 100 freestyle and 1:14.08 in the 100 breaststroke.
While their duties in the water are the same — swim as fast as you can from one wall to the other — both said they can feel a different atmosphere when they swim in the relays as opposed to individual events.
“For me, I see the relays as more fun and more relaxed,” Paisley said. “Not slower, but more encouraging because I’m surrounded by my teammates.”
Their coach, meanwhile, said that instructing the swimmers for the relays is almost the same as for the other events, but not quite.
“As a coach, I approach them the same because I want them to focus on that one event, that one stroke,” Hearn said. “Whatever it is, 100 butterfly, 50 free, focus on that. Where it gets a bit different is those transitions (between legs) in relays. They can make a difference.”
Multiple cultures at Elizabethtown
Elizabethtown has two exchange students on its girls roster this winter. Mona Benckendorff is from Germany and Pream Buabarn is from Thailand.
“They’ve adjusted well,” Elizabethtown coach Chad Houck said. “I think a lot of the team gets excited to learn about another culture, and they’re excited to learn about high school sports and competing as a high school student.”
In Tuesday’s meet against Ephrata, Benckendorff swam in the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay. Buarbarn was on the same team as Benckendorff in the 200 freestyle relay.
