[dropcap style=”flat”]I[/dropcap]t was another day of hitting the cold waters and taking home many accomplishments for the RBHS girls’ swimming and diving team at the Springfield Invite Jan. 27. The team placed third behind Glendale and Lafayette High School, with a score of 264.
Girls’ swimming did their off-events at the meet, or the ones that are not the swimmers’ specialty, senior Nicole Williams said, and so they were not focused on winning. Regardless, the Lady Bruins were happy to place despite the conditions of the meet.
“As a team, we did a good job of staying positive and racing hard, even though the pool was terrible and we were all tired,” Williams said. 
[note note_color=”#6cd3a1″ radius=”16″]Fast facts: Girls’ swimming finished third with a score of 264. Lafayette and Glendale took home first and second, with a score of 403 and 291 respectively.[/note] Williams swam in the 400 Free Relay, 100 Free and 200 Medley Relay, placing third in all the events. The diving team likewise did well, with senior Caroline Stevens placing fifth with a new personal record, freshman Gracie Fraunfelder finishing 14th and making the state consideration qualifying and junior Katie Bagley having her best meet of the year, diving coach JD Estes said.
“This was the best overall meet we have had all year,” Estes said. “[Stevens] was injured all week and unable to practice fully because she hit the diving board at the Cape Girardeau meet. I was very happy with how they all did.”
Stevens was pleased with her result, considering her injury and the fact she was sick while competing.
“I raised my 11 dive score, which was great, and I didn’t have any dives that were too bad,” Stevens said. “… right now, we’re focused on our last 6-dive meet and state, so we really just need to clean up our dives a little.”
Girls’ swimming is also now shifting their focus toward the state meet, Williams said, where the team plans on improving on warm-up strategies and cleaning up the rough spots, which means they’ll “be focused on faster relay starts, turns and technique in general,” and are also concentrating on improving health before state arrives.
“We want our bodies to be ready to race at state, so eating right and getting enough sleep is a big part [of that,]” Williams said. “We’ll also probably have another hard week in the pool, and after that we’ll start taper, which is where we gradually swim less yardage so we’re not fatigued in [the state] competition.”
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