Coming off of a year riddled with obstacles, such as Hurricane Irma, that disrupted their practice schedule, the Coral Gables Swimming team has officially begun preparing for the 2018 fall season. After missing out on the District title by only three points last October, the Girls’ Swimming team is hoping to reclaim the top spot and start a new district title streak. Similarly, the Boys’ Swimming team is looking to improve upon an impressive 3rd place finish at Districts.

Swimming competitively as early as two weeks into the school year, the team is focused on staying in shape and improving their skills at daily practices. These are held at the Ransom Everglades pool and generally, run for about two hours. The captains lead the team through a 15-minute stretch to start the day, followed by a few warm-up sets, all leading into the most challenging portion, often called the main set. To end the practice, the coach assigns various cooldown sets, which vary from sprints to individual medleys.

Coach Gerry Couzo has a very talented roster to work with, including many returning swimmers that made it as far as Regionals last year. Among these stands Alfredo Wolfermann, who will serve as a leader not only in the pool but also on the sidelines and at practice. “I hope to motivate my peers to become better swimmers and lead them through stretching and cheers at every competition, providing structure to the team,” senior Alfredo Wolfermann said.

It is only Coach Couzo’s second season at the helm, and the team is already starting to perform well and compete with its rivals for a place at States. Expectations are high across the board, as many feel the team can improve significantly on last year’s already impressive display, and there seems to be no lack of determination or confidence regarding the team’s ability to achieve such lofty goals.

“We had a lot of people make it to Regionals and we realized we might go to States the next year, which is exciting. We have really good swimmers this year, both rookies and veterans,” senior Camila Torres said.

The team had a preseason “Classic” against Miami High on Thursday, Aug. 23 at Ransom Everglades, and it definitely set the stage for their first competitive meet on Aug. 30 against Miami Beach High at Ransom. Success at these early competitions is expected to give the team momentum, as they set out on another quest for the District title and beyond.