Q: Do you have any worries or fears for this season?
Noah (Swim Team): No. That’s too negative. Those thoughts are too negative.
Stuti (Swim Team): I worry that the team won’t be as cohesive as I’d want it to be. I also worry about morale dropping – it’s sometimes very hard to jump into a cold pool when it’s raining and freezing, and it can really hurt morale.
Sanath (Track Team): Yeah, definitely the boys team. We pretty much lost everyone, so just getting them up to speed. And the technique-based things, like hurdles and high jump, I don’t really know much about. So yeah, they’ll have to figure that out themselves.
Brianna (Track Team): Nothing much *laughs*
Eli (Baseball Team): Do you wanna go first?
Noah Jacobs (Swim team)
Zane (Track Team): No.
Eli: I’m worried about stepping in a pothole in and getting warped to a whole another dimension
Zane: Fear itself, would be mine.
Q: How long have you played this sport/been on the CPS team?
Noah: I’ve been swimming for like 10 years, and I’ve been on the CPS team since I was a freshman.
Stuti: This will be my fourth year on the CPS team, and I’ve been swimming for around six years now.
Brianna: This is my second season.
*silence*
Sanath: Wait, my turn? Oh, this is my second CPS track season. I ran all of middle school.
Q: What is something you really want to do/achieve as a team?
Noah: As a team? Win everything. Yeah, we can do that.
Stuti: I really want the team to become a very tight-knit and supportive community, with all the swimmers building each other up and pushing each other to break personal records and fight through terrible conditions.
Sanath: Well last year the 4 x 4 was really good, and just trying to be somewhere close to that. We’ll put some people in different positions, and see how they like it.
Brianna: We’ll be able to put together a really strong 4 x 4 team for the girls. And there’s so much diversity, so doing well at League, like coming first or second or even third is pretty doable.
Eli: Beat Head Royce.
Zane: Yeah. And win.
Q: Does being a captain have a lot of extra pressure/responsibility? What’s it like?
Noah: Yeah, there’s stuff that I didn’t realize captains had to do that I have to do. Like I have to figure out who’s actually on the team. And I send them a simple email like “are you on the team or not” and they just don’t respond. And it’s really frustrating. ‘Yeah…I think…yeah, yeah.’”
Stuti: I don’t think it has a lot of extra pressure, at least not yet. There’s a bit more work we have to do, organizing meetings and other things like that, but there’s four of us so it’s not all that bad. I think the responsibilities will increase when the season starts, but I’d say that all things considered, it’s worth it.
Sanath: Keeping people not injured is my main concern, because that can completely ruin a season.
Brianna: Track’s a very individual sport. So you have to work on zooming out, having a broader look at the entire team, and being able to talk to everyone about how their season’s going. We always have to be working on not just focusing on ourselves.
Eli: “Not anything that I wouldn’t put on myself anyways.”
Some Guy in the Background: “Woah, man”
Zane: “That was a really good answer.”
Eli: “I’m the Danny Woodhead of the team. That’s what I’m trying to say.”
Brianna & Sanath (Track team)
Q: What are you most looking forward to this season?
Noah: Uh, crushing my opponents. You know, just…improving, being a good captain.
Stuti: I’m most looking forward to being in the water again. I only really swim during the school season, and I always really miss how light I feel in the water.
Sanath: The camaraderie of the boys team, in a word like “climbing the mountain together.” I mean, the boys sprinting team totally got gutted this year. But some of the boys look fast this year, and I just want us to be a good team.
Brianna: We have a huge girls team this year, like I said before, and that’s going to allow us to compete really well in all sorts of events, even events that typically get less attention. I think we’ll have a really strong girls team this season.