Shepard High School varsity girls swimming coach Taylor Burmeister shares this season summary on the best moments, highlights, and achievements of his team:
This season the girls swim and dive team focused on personal growth and individual speed. Our biggest highlight, I think, was our conference meet. Despite a shortened season, practice limitations with COVID, and no competitors in the pool, every girl swam at least one lifetime best at the conference meet.
We had several girls dropping close to 10 seconds on the 100 Free (dropping that much time on a sprint event is usually unheard of) and Jordan Ramsey, senior, dropped over 30 seconds in the 500! Ali Zemeckis, junior, also finished 3rd in the conference in the 50 Free, an event that she normally doesn't swim! Franny Serdar, senior, learned how to dive this year and was able to complete and compete in her first 11 dive meet at Conference, allowing her to accomplish her personal goal of becoming a diver.
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At sectionals, swimming against real people and not an empty pool, the girls continued to drop time. Ali Zemeckis, junior, dropped another 1 second off her conference 50 free time; Kat Gereszek, junior, dropped 2 more seconds in her breaststroke; Ava Gliva, freshmen, dropped 2 more seconds on her 100 free; Emma Banis, sophomore, dropped 2 seconds on her 100 back and 9 seconds in her 200 free; Hannah Cichoin, sophomore, dropped 2 seconds on her 100 fly; Azalea Kozlowski, freshmen, maintained her best time in the 100 back; and Marissa Florez, senior, swam season bests in both of her sprint races.
Despite the strangeness of the season, our final two meets were incredible testaments to the work the girls put in.