A sport that is growing in popularity at Seabury is swimming. Seabury currently has three swimmers in the student body: freshmen Lucas Sherwood and Ethan Smith and eighth grader Mateo Sherwood. The main driving force behind swimming at Seabury is Assistant Athletics Director Eric Nelson. He started the program 15 years ago, and “the reason we started it is to give kids an opportunity,” he says.
“Phoebe Edwards, Reece Edwards and Maddy McCaffery,” Nelson says, remembering some of the more well-known Seabury swimmers of years past. Seabury is home to a number of state champions in swimming, some of whom continued their swimming careers past high school. “We have had several kids that swam in college from the school over the years,” Nelson says.
Nelson also remembers one of the best teams in Seabury history: “We had a swim team that had six girls on it and got second in All Class at State. We also won two relays,” he recalls, hoping for something similar this season.
Nelson is looking forward to seeing what the future holds for Seabury swimming. “Even though it’s a small team, they can still go out and race against the fastest kids in the state, and I suspect that we could have some individual state champions that will be put up on the wall–– that’s what I’m hoping for,” he says.
According to Smith, there is definitely potential for him to go to state this year. “We’re doing pretty good. Free State has won every meet that we have gone to except for one,” he says.
Even though they both enjoy swimming very much, for Sherwood, his favorite events are the “200m [Individual Medley], which includes all four strokes and the 500m free[style].”
Though he prefers to partake in the activity, Sherwood keeps up with professional swimming from time to time. He says, “my favorite professional swimmer is probably Caleb Dressel. He’s a sprinter, so [he does not share] my events.” Although he watches swimming on occasion, Sherwood “prefer[s] football or something else. Swimming is kind of boring to watch,” he says.
As for Smith, he has different interests in the sport of swimming. “I usually do the 50m and the 100m free[style],” he says. Smith has been swimming for as long as he can remember. “I started [taking] swimming lessons when I was two. I figured out that I liked it and went to my first competitions when I was seven or eight,” he reminisces.
Sherwood also enjoys reflecting on different things that have happened during his swimming career. “[I enjoyed] winning a meet with my team, especially when my relay team won a big meet,” he says. According to him, his least favorite swimming memory was when “my brother [eighth grader Mateo Sherwood] actually quit swimming when he was younger, but he would later join back, because the pool is so cold.” In fact, Sherwood’s least favorite part of swimming is also how cold the water is.
Sherwood and Smith have very similar goals on what they would like to accomplish this season. For Smith specifically, he aims for a “PR in the 50m free[style] and [hopefully] get to state.”
Very supportive of these athletes, Nelson says, “I think it’s awesome that the Sherwood boys [and Smith] are swimming this year, and I love to give them opportunities––even though it’s a small team.”
“[Swimming] requires a lot of commitment since you’re in there every day, and it’s a lot of doing the same thing over and over––trying to get a 10th off your time, but it is really fun,” Sherwood explains.
Smith agrees with the repetitive aspect of swimming when he notes, “At practice, we go back and forth, over and over.” Smith also speaks very highly of the coaches he has, and he is thankful that they saw some serious potential in him when they first saw him swim. “The main reason that I did join Free State was because [Coach Skinner] asked me to be on their team personally when she saw me at a swimming club,” he says.
The number of sports at Seabury will only continue to grow in the near future. “Seabury is a school that tries to allow kids to reach their potential. We’re open to starting teams for kids who excel in sports that we don’t [already] offer,” concludes Nelson.
