Unlike so many other programs and teams around the world that have closed their doors amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sedona Swordfish swim team has been able to keep things going this summer — even if it’s been a little different.
With no more than two people allowed per lane in the eight-lane pool, practices are limited to no more than 16 swimmers at a time. Other regulations have kept the Swordfish from taking on too many swimmers. Additionally, there have been no actual meets. So, to help create the sense of competition, the Swordfish recently held a time trial meet where the swimmers got to compare themselves to where they were a year ago. Coach Dan Morse was upbeat with the results.
“The younger group had best times pretty much across the board,” Morse said. “The older group — the high schoolers — were very close to what their best times were last year. That’s all I can ask for for the high school kids. They aren’t going to get best times right now off of this restrictive training schedule. But the fact that they’re really close off of a restrictive training schedule and about two months of training was very good to see.”
In addition to the meets being canceled, Morse said that some of the other fun games that the team normally does in practice — like water polo and sharks and minnows — have been off limits during the pandemic due to the close contact required.
To help compensate for that, he’s created other games to break the monotony. One example is having the swimmers count their strokes at a certain distance. When the swim is complete, the number of strokes is added to the swimmer’s time, with the lowest number ultimately winning.
While competition is normally a driving force for athletes, the Swordfish swimmers have found positives this year. Alistair Wasden, an 11-year-old swimmer on the team, enjoyed the time trials, comparing them favorably to normal meets.
“They were really fun and a lot less long than the normal events,” Wasden said. “It’s been a great experience to practice. And we’ve had a couple of fake meets. The meets are really fun, but practicing is what gets you the experience. I think I’ve improved a lot. From last year, my times are a lot better.”
His sister, 13-year-old Lilli Wasden, has also been happy with how things have gone. Like her brother, Lilli’s times have gotten better. She specifically singled out how much better her kick turns have gotten.
She also found some silver lining in having smaller practices.
“I’ve had a fun season,” Lilli said. “It’s different with a lot less people — two people per lane on different sides. But it’s also more time to get more one-on-one coaching.”
Even with the silver lining, Morse said that having to limit the size of the team and turn people away was easily the worst part of how things have gone.
Despite that, he also knows that many pools throughout Arizona and the rest of the country have remained closed and feels fortunate that the Swordfish continue to have a pool available to them.
“I think it’s been successful — everybody who signed up has stuck around,” coach Morse said. “I have a lot of friends and family in New England. In other states, with the regulations that they had, they’re barely able to get back in the water. So just the fact that we had a summer team was pretty amazing.”
