Most people consider waking up at 6:30 a.m for school hard. However, for Meredith Burglund, varsity swimmer and senior, that is sleeping in. Burglund said she has practice for 22 hours each week, including morning practice three times a week.

“Sometimes I’ll have to put my homework away early because I know I have swim practice in the morning…Monday, Wednesday, Friday we have two pratices a day (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) and Tuesdays/Thursday we have afternoon practice. On Saturdays, we just have morning. We practice for 22 hours every week,” Burglund said. 

Burglund isn’t the only one who finds themselves having to balance the workload and practice. For Sage Parikshak, CHS swimmer and senior, time management is how she keeps up with it all. 

Parishak said, “I am lucky enough that I’ve always been pretty efficient when it comes to completing my work on time so I get enough sleep and been able to manage my time well but I do definitely have friends who have come to morning practice and they tell me they went to bed at 2 a.m. so they’re running on two and a half hours of sleep.”

Burglund added that the time commitment motivates her to complete her work rather than saving it for another day.
Burglund said, “Whenever I get home from practice, I always eat my dinner and then go straight to homework… sometimes I just have to make sure I get it done early.”

Despite the large time commitment, both Burglund and Partikshak continued swimming until their senior year. 

Parishak said, “The time commitment was worth it for me because of all the positives that outweigh the negatives. I really like my swim group. I’m in senior two and they are like a second family to me. I’ve always known that I belonged in the water and loved swimming so I continued on. It’s a really good environment for me.”

According to Athletics Director Jim Inskeep, it is this sense of inclusion that motivates students to join sports.

Inskeep said, “To me, I think (people join sports) because of the sense of belonging. We very much tell all of our students early on in the year to get involved. For some students, that avenue becomes athletics. Even though there’s a lot of time commitment to it, you’re meeting some of your closest friends and it’s your outlet from a social aspect as well.”

 “The swim team can seem really daunting to people who just see it from an outside perspective.. But I do think it’s super fun and I truly enjoy it so it’s not just like we’re torturing ourselves,” Parishak said.