This year, the girls varsity swim team consists of six students from the junior high schools. These girls include Sophia Stolfo, seventh grader at NJH, Julia Fromstein, Kala Guettler, and Molly Meland, eighth graders at NJH, and Atianna Hernke and Abbigale Sanders, eighth graders at WJH.

Though the girls may seem young for varsity athletics, their statistics and race times have proven their capability. Varsity coach Kristen Steenvoorden looks past their ages to focus on their talent.

“Given how fast they swim, I forget how young they are,” Steenvoorden said. “Sometimes you have younger players who want to fall back and not step on anyone’s feet, but they’re all very driven swimmers. I’ve gotten very lucky with them.”

Varsity captains Kate Segar and Andrea DeFreese, seniors, notice the positive changes that occur when younger athletes are part of a varsity team.

“You grow up a lot emotionally,” DeFreese said. “You push yourself, your coach pushes you, your team pushes you. And in a good way, to make yourself a better person both in and out of the pool.”

Both captains confirm that mental toughness is one of the methods necessary to get an athlete through countless laps and drills.

“We put in a lot of hard work,” Segar said. “Having that team support behind you is important.”

Despite the age gap that sets them apart from the other varsity swimmers, the seventh and eighth-grade swimmers allow their ages to be an asset to their work ethic.

“[Being younger] makes you want to work twice as hard because the others are a lot older,” Hernke said. “But we made the team, so we’re not super different from them. We all want to work hard to reach our end goals. We’ve proven that we’re not just junior-highers.”

The younger swimmers agree that the older girls have been supportive, whether during practice, at meets, or out of the pool.

“They’re all really supportive of us. They’re all super kind, and they’re always cheering at the end of the lane for us,” Guettler said.

The younger swimmers believe the age diversity is beneficial to the team.

“It’s really helpful that they’re older than us,” Sanders said. “They know more so they always help us, kind of like they’re our mentors. They’re like our sisters and moms.”

The younger swimmers agree that the positive atmosphere on the team will continue when they welcome younger swimmers to varsity.

“We look up to [the older girls] so much so we’ll know what to do when the younger girls come,” Meland said.

As for advice for any younger player, varsity or not, Segar has words of wisdom to inspire the athletes.

“Don’t be afraid to go out and try out for a team,” Segar said. “If you really go out for it, you should remember that there’s always people behind you and cheering for you to succeed. No matter how young, everyone’s excited to see you do what you love.”