The FHC boys swim and dive team and their fans are excited to see how the team performs this year. The team has seen a gradual but apparent decline in team points over the past 10 years, but will new talent for this team lead to a better season?

Last year, one of the best meets this team had was FHC at Jenison. The total meet score was 95-89 with FHC securing the win. Some dominant swimmers in this meet were Lucas Witham, Logan Tiggleman, and Sam Grant. Witham, in this meet, secured 4 gold medals, had a score of 12, and had a NISCA score of 114.3, which was overwhelmingly the best in the meet. Lucas Witham was a Junior and is now a senior and will still be swimming for FHC.  Tiggleman and Grant, however, were seniors and will not be swimming for the team this year. A negative thing about this meet was that 3 of the top 5 finishes were seniors, meaning that we will not see them this year.

Luka Hemsley and the swim and dive team want to improve on last season and the seasons before and have set goals to do so.

“Some team goals for the season are to improve times overall and to perform well at meets,” says Hemsley.

While we are looking at wins as a main factor of success, the real success is more about the team and the chemistry. The main sign of a great season is if the team bonds well, which in turn leads to wins. This FHC team is showing promise for great team chemistry this year. Senior swimmer Lucas Witham is a main leader of the team,

“Just building a relationship with all the guys on the team,” says Witham. “Having fun relays, and just having fun at the meets, and cheering each other on.”

This team’s small size might be seen as a negative aspect of this team because it may affect the scoring, but it may also be positive. Witham thinks that it may help the team succeed, rather than be a negative.

“It just means we’re closer and have better team chemistry, ” says Witham. “It shouldn’t affect the points and scoring too much because we’ve always been small, but it just makes us know each other better.”

For the team to have success, each swimmer needs to prepare with and without the team. Everyone on the team is working hard to prepare for this season. Hemsley is one of the swimmers who is preparing independently of the team.

“I have prepared by practicing on my own in the pool,” says Hemsley.

However, the season won’t all go perfectly, but the team is already preparing for some of the challenges of the season. One of the main ones is fatigue, and keeping the swimmers healthy. Hemsley is one of these players who is ready for this roadblock.

“I think that working and training in the pool is physically demanding,” says Hemsley. “I think that will be a big problem for this season.”

There are key meets that the team is looking forward to for many reasons, both short and long term. Witham is looking in the short term to help this team grow, and in the long term.

“Short term, I’m looking forward to the Falcon Fury meet, swimming the 25, which we never really get to do,” says Witham. “Long-term states obviously want to go out and drop some fast times, and hopefully, I could win states.”

The seniors on this team are going to be the ones who lead them to victory. All the seniors on this team have played multiple years on it and have learned the chemistry and grown in the sport, and are hoping to pass it on to the younger swimmers. Witham, a senior, is excited to be a role model for younger swimmers.

“It’s exciting because I’ve seen so many people go before me that have inspired me to keep swimming,” says Witham. “I hope that I can just do that for these freshmen and underclassmen, and hopefully, they will continue to swim.”

The first look that we will get on this team will be on January 30-31. The meet will be a MISCA Meet where there will be 85 swim and dive teams from around Michigan. The results of this meet, team and individual, will be the first sign of a successful season, or a season full of hardship.

The FHC boys swim and dive team has a lot of potential this season, and they are excited to see how they will do this season and are confident. Hemsley, a swimmer, has a lot of confidence with this team.

“We have some really good swimmers on the team,” says Hemsley. “Even though it is small, I think that we will get the job done.”