Boys’ swimming had a smooth start to the season Dec. 15. In their first meet of the year, Park beat Hopkins by a waterslide.

Sophomore Magnus Smith said he was impressed with the team’s performance, and the meet had gone as he expected. 

“The whole team overall did exceptionally well this time,” Smith said. “We expected to have a good meet against Hopkins. We were hoping to win and we did win, so that’s really good.”

According to sophomore Henry Berg, Park’s performance can be attributed to the team’s comradery present throughout the entire meet. 

“Cheering for everybody and being here for the swimmers was really good,” Berg said. “We have great chemistry, and the team performed outstanding today.”

According to Smith, the team’s roster has changed drastically since last year, so the first meet of the season was a good tone-setter for the remainder of the year.

“Because we’ve lost so many seniors last year, we are going to try and rebuild team morale,” Smith said. “The first meet is always the baseline for the rest of the season, and it’s looking very solid right now.”

Coach Nate Stone said he’s most looking forward to helping new swimmers improve throughout this season.

“We have a bunch of brand new swimmers that have never touched the water,” Stone said. “The earlier you get into swimming, the faster you make progress, I’m just excited to train them.”

According to Berg, he has future home meets circled on the calendar because of the emphatic atmosphere the team and the fans bring.

“I’m really excited about home meets, to get that energy in the building, in the pool,” Berg said. “It’ll get the boys a bit rowdy.”

Boys’ swimming is set to face off against Chanhassen in their next meet at 6 p.m. Jan. 5 at the St. Louis Park High School Pool.