Girls’ swimming improves times and technique

Park remains strong after defeat by Benilde

Freshman+Stephanie+Stone+competes+in+her+race+Sept.+24.+Benilde+beat+Park+girls+swimming+51-37.

Lilly Strathman

Freshman Stephanie Stone competes in her race Sept. 24. Benilde beat Park girls’ swimming 51-37.

Ben Sanford

Despite losing 51-37 against Benilde St. Margaret’s, Park persisted. In its second meet of the season, the team relied on it’s younger swimmers to carry the team, as many returning swimmers were unable to race.

According to Coach Amanda Forsberg, the team made great improvements due to the hard work at practices within the last week.

“A lot of good swimming all around,” Forsberg said. “I was really impressed with my 500 kids and my 200s. They did a really good job.” 

According to junior Tenzin Dedhen, Park created a supportive environment throughout the meet.

“The team’s energy was very encouraging and everyone was cheering. We had a lot of fun,” Dedhen said. “We stayed really positive and we finished strong throughout the whole meet.”

Senior captain Greta Kulevsky said the team had been practicing intensely since their last meet.

“We’ve been working pretty hard this week especially, and it really paid off today,” Kulevsky said. 

Forsberg said she is glad to see Park students branching out from their comfort zone and trying new sports. 

“It was really fun to see some of those volleyball players come out and try another sport just to stay in shape, so I really commend them for that,” Forsberg said.

The team’s energy was very encouraging and everyone was cheering.

— Tenzin Dedhen

According to Kulevsky, the COVID-19 restrictions provide challenges for Park, but the team continues to find ways to stay connected with each other.  

“It’s definitely made it harder because we can’t all practice in the same pool at a time,” Kulevsky said. “We still figure ways to have some team bonding and stay close to each other.”

Dedhen said the team felt satisfied with its stand out times at its latest meet.

“Everyone put in their best effort and there were a lot of new best times. I was really proud of the team for that,” Dedhen said.

For their next meet, Park will be competing against Chaska at 6 p.m. Sept. 29 at home.