On March 3-4, the Bellefonte High girls swim team competed in the district-level meet, earning the title of District 6 Champions for the third consecutive year. This comes following an undefeated season of seventeen wins, for which the girls received the title of Mountain League Champions. 

Coach Tony Edmondson described how all of the girls’ hard work throughout the season has led to success. 

  “It’s great to see their hard work pay off. Individually, having 90% of the girls qualify for Districts is quite the accomplishment. Every single girl on our team this year won a race at some point in the season. Each girl will earn a varsity letter as well. To sum it up, the total team effort they showed all season is their greatest accomplishment,” he said. 

Following the regular season, there was three weeks of intense training in preparation for Districts. Senior Avah Colm describes her focus throughout this time. 

“To prepare for the meet, I visualized my event and focused on practice during the days leading up to the meet,” she said. 

Being  ready to compete did not only lead up to the day of Districts, but it remained important to be in the right physical and mental state on the day of the meet itself. 

“Leading up to the event I was listening to a lot of music to get mentally prepared, and I was staying hydrated,” Avah said. 

Avah describes that her progress throughout the season has been not just physical, but also mental. 

“The biggest challenge I have faced this season is finding confidence in myself. Because of that, I struggle with nervousness before I compete. This season I have done better at staying calm before I race,” she said. 

She faced this same task at Districts, but she was able to overcome this and succeed. 

“My biggest challenge at Districts was fighting nerves before I competed, but my biggest success was dropping time,” she said. 

Junior Katelyn Packer describes that the team is able to overcome personal struggles and succeed as a team by supporting one another. 

“My biggest personal challenge is staying mentally in the zone and overcoming any negative or doubting thoughts. I would say the same for some of the other members of the team, which makes our greatest successes being able to lift eachother up and get eachother ready by feeding off the energy,” she said. 

Senior Finley Musser describes one specific instance of this that occurred at Districts. 

“My biggest challenge was accepting that my times weren’t the best, but winning the relay put me into the right mindset,” she said. 

Each of these three girls, along with a few others, will be moving onto the state-level competition, which will be held on March 14-16. Avah, Finley, and Katelyn will all be competing in the 200 medley relay. In addition, Katelyn will also be competing in the 100 fly and the 400 freestyle relay. 

For those moving onto states, the hard work will continue. For Avah, this means focus on practice and physical skill. 

“I will be prioritizing my recovery after practice and focusing on improving my technique,” she said. 

In comparison, Katelyn says that her goals are more in relation to mental preparation.

“I will be continuing to work hard and get mentally there,” she said. 

The team has had great success in their season as well as the district competition, but their work is not done yet. The girls swim team is now District Champions for the third consecutive year and will now move on to the next challenge.