The icy winter wind brings with it the arrival of a new swimming season for the JPS swimming Team. Paving their path to success with their first victory against Freehold High School, the season has looked to be a great hit, but it wasn’t easy to get here.

With their 6 day practice schedule, getting better at swimming comes with a cost. Besides swimming during practices, occasionally swimmers will engage in dryland workouts—a form of conditioning including pushups, crunches, or burpees which elevate their swim training.

Along with the vigorous practice schedule the swimmers uphold, they also maintain a strong team relationship and connection.

“We are very supportive of one another and we always try to cheer each other on during our races. It’s not easy to be in the water after a long, tiring day of school but we do what we can to try to push ourselves forward and win,” said junior captain Chinmay Prabhu. “The bonds that we create as teammates is what drives us to success.”

Their success has certainly paid off. Their first victory against Freehold High School led them to a strong start to the season. Despite narrowly losing the next two meets, the team remains determined and keeps their head high. With this motivation, they won their next three swim meets against Piscataway, Metuchen, and North Brunswick.

Bringing their A game to GMC, the team also sent several of their extremely successful swimmers to the meet of champions: Angela Zhou, Anisha Ohja, and Sean Stanik.

“Achieving personal and team goals in the pool is incredibly rewarding and the sense of accomplishment that follows is truly fulfilling,” said girls senior captain Sanskriti Nayak.

Aside from their impressive showings, many of the swimmers enjoy the team dynamic and support from each other.
“Tons of cheer and support from teammates yelling has made the team where it is right now,” added boys senior captain Justin Jiang.

It was through the hard work and discipline that the team maintained throughout their practices that allowed them to achieve success. Their team dynamic is a primary part of the foundation which upholds their ability to push themselves and others.