Matthew Barriga
Equinox Staff
The Keene State College swim team has officially begun its season this year, and according to student Patrick Doyle, it’s going to be a very busy one.
“We have practice Monday through Saturday,” said Doyle.
“It’s very heavy on away meets this year. We only have two home meets and the rest are all away, for the rest of the season.”
This is Doyle’s second year on the team and he claims to be very excited for the season and the practices.
According to Doyle, the coach and captains put a big emphasis on strengthening the team.
“The focus during practice is definitely team oriented, they want to get everyone working as hard as they can. We always encourage everyone, and there’s always a general positive feeling to the practices.”
According to sophomore Braeden Huot, the swim team didn’t waste any time getting started.
“First week we were back, we started captains practices. Those generally ran Monday to Friday and were about an hour long. Tuesdays and Thursdays were a lot of running and conditioning, and Monday, Wednesday, Friday was just getting in the pool and getting a good amount of yardage so that we can get ready for the season,” Huot said.
He added that since the season started, it has only gotten busier. “The way my schedule worked out, I have one practice every morning along with a lift Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. But for some people it’s a lot different, and they have up to three practices a day,” Huot said.
When asked about goals for the early season, Huot claimed that one of the biggest goals was to keep everyone healthy and without injuries.
“Shoulders are huge, and so are knee injuries.” Huot said that many common injuries in swim are joint related, and that most injuries occur in the early season. “That’s always a big one – someone gets injured, and it really throws off your plan for the long run.”
Matthew Barriga can be contacted at
mbarriga@kscequinox.com
