By Sarah Burnett
Time to dust off those caps and goggles! After almost two years, the River Hill High School club swim team is finally getting ready to compete at the annual Howard County Invitational swim meet.
Columbia Aquatics Association (CAA) usually hosts a yearly swim meet for the athletes of Howard county. HCPSS does not have any JV or Varsity aquatic teams, so the annual meet allows for swimmers to participate in a fun recreational competition with their friends to compete against other high schools in the county.
Unfortunately, the swim meet last year was cancelled due to the pandemic. “I was definitely bummed that we couldn’t compete last year,” Said co-captain Stephen Britten. “Everyone was training really hard and ready to have some end-of-season fun, but I completely understand why it was cancelled,” he said.
Despite not having a meet last year, CAA recently announced that they will be hosting the annual swim meet this year- but it’s going to be run a bit differently this year due to covid restrictions. It is scheduled to beon Saturday, June 12th at 7 a.m., which is about a week after the River Hill High School graduation.
To start, the meet is usually held at Howard Community College, which is an indoor pool. The swim meet is taking place at Stevens Forest Pool, which is an outdoor pool that allows for a larger number of people to attend. Swim club officer Simon Hu stated that “I am super excited to race at a different pool this year. Even though the meet was usually hosted at HCC, Steven’s Forest is a huge upgrade. The water is going to be a lot colder, there is going to be more lanes for people to swim in, we won’t have those tiny diving blocks, and we won’t be stuck in a gym when we aren’t swimming.”
There is also going to be a limited number of swimmers allowed on each team; each school is allowed to send up to 20 athletes, and all athletes have to sign up through an unofficial Sign Up Genius link. To avoid unnecessary contact, there will be no team relays (races with multiple swimmers in one lane).
And of course, athletes who are not in the water will be required to wear a facial covering at all times, and try to practice social distancing to the best of their abilities. The only people allowed on the pool deck, when they aren’t racing, will be the Captains of each high school team.
Despite all of the restrictions going into place and the late date of the meet, I am very excited to race and get back into the water. As a co-captain, Stephen and I worked so hard last year just for the meet to be cancelled. Although the format of this meet is going to be a lot different than previous years, Ii’m excited to get back to some normal-life events with my friends- Even if it is after I quit competitive swimming and graduate high school.