Carrying on the tradition of dying their hair before the District 6-6A Championship, Coppell swimmers enter school with a multitude of colors atop their heads. 

Tomorrow, preliminaries begin at 1 p.m. and qualifying swimmers will compete in finals later that day at the Lewisville ISD Westside Aquatic Center. 

After their last meet, the Tex Robertson Invitational, swimmers began preparing. While recent weather has proved a hindrance, with the pool being closed yesterday due to YMCA lightning protocol, the two-week gap between the previous meet and district was still ample time to get ready.

“Before winter break, we went pretty hard at practice but after our travel meet, we’ve been tapering, which means easier practices or fewer distances but more intensity,” Coppell junior Sofia Simula said.

Simula, who specializes in the backstroke, dropped time during the 2018-19 season at district and hopes to do so again. Like her, many other swimmers hold the goal of advancing to Class 6A Region I Championships in two weeks. 

“It’s mainly just the relays [that make it to regionals],” Simula said. “But there are a lot of fast people this year who I’m sure might make region.” 

Amongst the competitors are Coppell seniors Johan Pretorius and Aurelie Migault, both of whom advanced to the state competition last season and hold school records (Pretorius for the 100-yard backstroke and Migault for the 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard freestyle). 

In addition, the sole Coppell diver, sophomore Yassin Helaly, will compete today at 5 p.m.

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