Gilbert faces Litchfield in swimming tourney

WINSTED — The Gilbert School went against Litchfield High School at a swimming meet held at the Northwest YMCA on Friday, Jan. 9.The meet consisted of 12 events, including three relays, eight individual swimming events and diving. Gilbert Swim Coach Bill Hatfield described swimming as a team sport which offers a lot of room for personal improvement.“Any kid, regardless of their experience or what their personal best is, can always go for a new personal best time,” Hatfield said. “They can always see their improvement. It’s quite tangible. It’s unlike other sports, for example baseball, where the pitcher can strike you out. In this sport, it’s you against the time. It’s fun to see the kids improve as the season goes on and really get excited about their achievements. Because we’re a much smaller team everyone gets a chance to swim. The most you can swim in a meet is four times, and at least half the team does.”Hatfield said his team has won two tournaments and lost two so far this season. “This year our junior class makes up about half of the team,” Hatfield said. “A lot of them have been swimming since freshman year so we’re really poised to take a big step forward next year, when that group all becomes seniors at the same time. We have challenged ourselves this year with a very difficult schedule. Our wins have not been easy for us by any means. We’re getting better as a team. This group is getting better by facing a higher level of competition. This group has improved every year. The improvement individually is incredible. The improvement as a team has been tremendous as well. I just think it’s a lot of fun and the kids do as well. We practice about seven to eight hours a week. I haven’t had any issues with these kids academically. It’s not very often that I have to worry about eligibility.”Twins Samantha and Lexi Demming, 17, are captains for the Gilbert team.“I really like the family aspect of the team,” Samantha said. “Everyone gets along. You’re competing against yourself more than against a team. It’s an individual as well as a team sport. There’s a lot of personal gain, and it’s really nice to see how everybody improves over the course of the season. You can see it on their faces, they’re smiling whenever they get out of the pool.”Lexi said that the students on the team get to know each-other well from spending so much time together during the season.“We bond well, and it’s a lot of fun,” Lexi said. “We practice every day and have meets on weekends. I don’t view being a captain as that much different than a regular team member except people look up to you more. If they come to you with a question you have to answer to the best of your ability.” Gilbert team captain Ryan Weiss, 16, said swimming in general is a lot of fun.“You get to be in the water all day,” Ryan said. “My favorite part of the season is when we can get freshman to do their personal best and make them feel good about their times. Swimming doesn’t really become a sport until you get into high school. It takes awhile for people to join the team but once they do they absolutely love it. It’s fun when you can help people on the team and they come to trust you and come to you with problems. I just like helping everybody out.”