The boys’ swimming team participated in their first unscored conference relay Dec. 7. Senior Captain David Salamzadeh said it was great to see new swimmers putting in work in order to push the team forward.

“I was really excited, I think everybody did really well and it was cool to see a lot of new swimmers get some time to swim new events in the pool,” Salamzadeh said. “As a team, I was really impressed with everybody’s performance.”

According to head coach Amanda Forsberg, the upperclassmen were able to help out and encourage underclassmen.

“We won two relays. I was really impressed with the upperclassmen, they really brought the underclassmen along,” Forsberg said. “I am excited to get ready for the dual meet season starting on Thursday.”

Senior Tommy Guddal said novice swimmers will continue to work on mastery of basic, yet crucial skills while the whole team improves upon fitness.

“This is the first meet for many people, so (we’ll continue) practicing how to get down technical stuff with starts and turns and always keep the strength training going.” Guddal said.

Salamzadeh said the conference relay included some unusual and enjoyable events for swimmers.

“There were some odd relays that aren’t usually included in a meet, like a 200 butterfly relay, a crescendo relay, just kind of fun things.” Salamzadeh said.

Salamzadeh said the team’s mindset was one of coming in with the goal of having fun no matter what.

“I think we were pretty excited, the feel wasn’t super serious, I think everybody was in a good place mentally coming out of the meet.”

Senior Tommy Guddal said he was very impressed with the team’s efforts and everyone’s performance, including his own.

“I felt I did pretty well. I haven’t swam or raced in about ten months but I felt I went out and put a good foot forward to a good season. We have some strong swimmers in certain events, and we did well across the board.”

Forsberg said the captains are great motivators, and the team is exceptionally supportive during meets.

My captains are very good at giving inspirational speeches,” Forsberg said “(Swimmers) are always cheering for each other at the lanes, and there to say ‘good job’ and pick up after a race.

Forsberg said the best moment from the meet was seeing new swimmers in the water.

“Seeing the new swimmers and getting everyone on deck and in the water the first time, it’s always fun to see someone who’s never swam before swim their first race and come out and be excited,” Forsberg said. “Everyone came in faster and in more shape than I thought they were going to be.”

The next dual meet will be 5 p.m. Dec. 14 at St. Louis Park High School against Hopkins.