Norman High/Norman North’s swim team finishes strong despite pressures of Covid-19
Covid-19 has placed significant pressure on schools at every level. Those pressures are relevant not only in the classroom but in sports as well. Norman High and Norman North’s swim team has shown endurance and awareness for Covid-19 regulations in the midst of such pressures, finishing their season strong.
The swim team follows the Covid-19 protocols as much as they can, but that doesn’t mean that the effects of Covid-19 have been an easy adjustment. Kent Nicholson, head coach of the Norman High/Norman North swim team, gave some insight into how Covid-19 affected their practice time and methods.
“Basically, it cut our practices to about half. We had to split our team in half in order to have less kids in a lane and that sort of thing. And so, we practiced for an hour and a half to an hour and 45 minutes in previous years, now all the kids are getting an hour.”
Shedding more light on the protocols that the swim team tries to follow, Nico Bagajewicz, a team member and Junior at Norman High, speaks to the efforts made by the team and its coaches.
“Before we get into the water every day, we have Casey [Robertson], our coach, or Kent give us a temperature check with the thermometers that the schools provided, as well as trying to keep our masks on before we touch the edge of the pool.
Covid-19 has not only made practicing harder, but it has also had an effect on morale. “I would like to say we are trying as hard as possible during the season, although we have had a lot of people quit or just not join the team because they were either afraid to contract it or being conscious of their family members,” said Bagajewicz. “We try to keep a really good spirit on the team and keep it light-hearted. We try not to let most of that get to us.”
“I would say that they adjusted better than they thought they would, but it definitely negatively affected some kids,” said Kent Nicholson. When talking about what the swimmers felt during competitions, Nicholson said, “They weren’t able to go to meets feeling confident in what they were doing because they are doing something different than what they’ve done before. They were uncertain of how they were going to do.”
Although that uncertainty was present, both Nicholson and Bagajewicz would say that they had a successful season. “Yes, we were successful. We were happy with the results that we had for the most part. I mean, you never finish a season and are one-hundred-percent about everything.” said Nicholson. “There are always things that don’t go right. In that way, it probably wasn’t much different than any other season.
“We’ve worked very hard to get to the place that we’re at right now,” said Bagajewicz. “At state, Norman High relay team, we got first in our heat. With Norman North, we had very good results from the Norman North boys and women as well.”
Despite Covid-19, the swim team from Norman High and Norman North continues to make strides with their work ethic and positivity, as well as their competitive results.