Swimmer and senior Andrew Rafalko practices for his upcoming meet. He has been on the swim team for the past four years and has committed to swim at University of North Carolina.

According to Head Coach, Chris Plumb, the team will have their first meet on Dec. 4 at North Central.

“Season’s been going well. (The swimmers) have been in the water officially for about four weeks, so things are going pretty well. We’re off to a good start,” Plumb said.

Swimmer and senior Jacob Pitz, said this year has been more relaxed for him since he said he chose a lower commitment group that allows him more time to do other things. Plumb said there are four different swim groups with four different practice schedules, but the team will usually practice three times in the morning, five times in the afternoon and on Saturday.

Swimmer and senior Andrew Rafalko said they still had practice over Thanksgiving break minus Thursday. He said if swimmers take off more than a couple days of practice, it could set them back more than they would like. Rafalko said the team gets every Sunday off, but since it’s just one day it does not impact them negatively.

Rafalko said, “High school season just started a couple weeks ago so we’re excited about that. We’re in our mid-season meet for club, what we rest for, what we really train for right now which is also beginning in December. We’re in the middle of training right now, so everyone is focused on swimming fast.”

Pitz said the smaller meets that the swimmers will be competing in are not a concern for the team since the meets do not have quite an effect on the season.

“It’s more of just getting used to racing in the water again as well as scoping out and feeling out the competition a little bit. It’s not necessarily how we’re going to win that meet cause typically Carmel does anyways since we’re such a powerhouse in the sport,” he said.

Plumb said the swimmers prepare for their meets by coming in every day and knowing what they are trying to accomplish with a good attitude.

“Being here for a long time, I understand that there are trials with the season and what it takes to be a good athlete. (I try to) help them when they get low, build them up and try to build great leaders here. (The staff) takes the time in and out of the pool to make sure there’s a positive team environment for (the swimmers) to be successful,” Plumb said. “It’s our goal every year to be the very best team that we can be. I think we certainly have the athletes and people to be a state championship team, but we still have a lot of work to do before we get there.”