The winter sport season is in full
throttle, and amidst basketball, track, wrestling,
and more, the swim and dive season is
in gear as well. Falls Church Swim and Dive,
or FCSD, is a huge part of FCHS, and swim
and dive are both sports that can be great for
students who like a team environment, as well
as teens who prefer to compete individually.
The Jagwire had the opportunity to interview
Coach Nikki Iselin, head coach of the FCSD
swim team.
Coach Nikki has been swimming
since she was five years old, and she believes
that coaching swim blends her love of swimming
with her ambition to help swimmers
get better and better. “There is nothing more
exciting than watching a swimmer drop time
after working hard for several months, or getting
close to personal best times after being
out for an injury, or successfully completing
a race in a stroke that they couldn’t do at the
beginning of the season,” Nikki told The Jagwire.
There were about 70 swimmers and divers
on the team last year, and those numbers
are ready to grow!
Dual meets, or meets against one other
school, are normally held Friday nights during
the season. Dive events begin, followed by
the swim events. For swim, there are events
with distances ranging from 50-yard freestyle
to 500-yard freestyle (two lengths of the pool
to 20 lengths, respectively). “Swim meets usually
last a few hours, so there is no bad time
to show up and watch a meet,” Coach Nikki states. “We love the support from FCHS students.”
In fact, support from students is something
that the coaches find very meaningful.
“There are so many opportunities for success,
regardless of your ability level. I love seeing students
coming together as a team, and cheering
for and supporting their teammates,” Coach
Nikki explained. And it’s not just the coaches
that are excited for the season; the students are also excited about the schedule of events getting
underway. The Jagwire set up a Google form asking
swimmers and divers what they were most looking
forward to for the ’16-’17 swim/dive season.
“I’m most excited to improve my skills as
a swimmer,” said one of the Google respondents,
while another said, “The team is like a family, I can’t
wait for that.” And another even stated, “I just can’t
wait to have fun.” FCSD is gearing up for a great
season overall.