The Hollis Brookline Girls Swim Team had a difficult time getting their season underway this year. With their home pool located at the Nashua Boys and Girls Club, it has been a struggle just to get in the pool in general.

The girls season consisted of only two meets this year,  a drastic difference from the normal six the team expects to play.

The loss of competition seemed to be one of the biggest takeaways from the swimmers due to Covid precautions. Schools weren’t able to compete in an individual pool, swimming against each other, so they were forced to hold virtual meets.

“We would race against our own team at our home pool and then upload our times into a Google Doc to compare them against other teams. This made things a lot less competitive and it didn’t really feel like a real meet since we never got to see the other teams” said four year senior swimmer Meghan Flannery ‘21.

With all high school sports, the bond a team creates throughout the season is vital to the heart of the team . This can be built through team dinners, activities on the weekend, or just hanging out with each other in general.  Flannery also found herself noticing the team bond was more challenging to create than seasons before. “A big thing that stood out to me this year was that a lot less people were on the swim team probably due to Covid and it was harder to bond as a team since we couldn’t do any activities outside of swim.”

Alex Putney ‘21, another four year varsity swimmer, revealed a lot of the teams practicing challenges this year. “We have to split up the team to practice on different days so it’s harder to bond as a team, also remembering to put our masks back on after our events is challenging because it’s hard to breathe after getting out of the pool especially if they’re soaked.”

Putney’s key events are 100 meter breaststroke, 50 meter and 100 meter freestyle. All three events take lots of energy in a short amount of time. In order to keep her times up, she found herself practicing more by herself, outside of practice, in order to stay ready.

However, Hannah Lapointe ‘21 thought the girls were able to make the most of their season, even under their difficult circumstances. “Because the meets were virtual, so it required our team to really cheer one another on.  We still had a great season though and had a lot of fun,” said Lapointe ‘21.

Despite a challenging season, a swimmer to watch for next year is sophomore, Ella Cunanan ‘22. She had a phenomenal year, making huge strides in the pool, while also setting new school records and being a key component of the teams success. Cunanan is also scheduled to compete in the 100 backstroke at the state meet for HB.

The HB Girls Swim Team found themselves with a restricting season as a whole. Although the team’s perseverance and hard work overcame these restrictions, making the best out of a poor situation.