By Meara Isenberg

Staff Writer

@mearaannee

At 7:45 a.m. on Thursday morning at the Young Men’s Christian Association, 29 swimmers took a break from practice to smile for a picture. With flippers wading and water dripping from their faces, the Coppell High School swim and dive team looked like a family.

Every Monday and Tuesday from now until April 30, swim team tryouts will give anyone the opportunity to join the team.

The tryouts will take place at 3:45 p.m. at the Coppell YMCA pool and will consist of a light warm up, a 200 IM swim and 100 freestyle kick for time.

With only a 10-15 minute tryout to base his decision on, swim coach Rick Whittlesey looks for certain things when determining who makes the team.

“This is more of a technique based tryout to see if they can do the strokes,” Whittlesey said. “The main thing I’m looking for is people who want it, people who have determination.”

It’s not required that swimmers have experience on a team, but having that experience could benefit those trying out.

“It’s a big advantage to have been at least on a summer league team,” Whittlesey said. “Ideally we are looking for swimmers that have been swimming club.”

Generally, once the tryout time is up, Whittlesey will have made a decision as far as placing a swimmer on a team.

“Once I see them swim, I can tell where they’re going to be,” Whittlesey said. “If they are on the borderline, I may not be entirely sure whether they are JV or Varsity, it kind of depends on who else might try out.”

The CHS swim and dive team is currently competing in the fastest district in the state, so there is big competition. Anyone who makes the team will find themselves working hard to get the team to regionals.

“It’s pretty intense with high expectations, but the tryout itself is relatively easy,” Whittlesey said.

To try out for the CHS swim and dive team, a current UIL physical form is needed. To request a physical form or schedule a day to try out, email [email protected].