With the first competition of the high school swim season just weeks away, leadership for the Wrangell team is focusing on building a stable, long-term program for student-athletes.

Head coach Tory Houser, assistant coach Alicia Stearns and team manager Johanna Sanford have been meeting regularly to map out practices and strategies for the upcoming year. Houser took over as head coach in 2025 after coach Matt Nore changed careers to attend police officer training.

Sanford, who swam every year of high school and graduated with the class of 2026, played a crucial role in keeping the team going last year. Houser credited Sanford’s enthusiasm and dedication for keeping the squad’s spark lit.

“There are many things that I am excited about for this year and for the future,” Houser said. “Johanna has a vision for the swimming team that could last well into the future, and it could really pay off in the coming years.”

For Sanford, her new management role is a way to stay connected to a sport she loves while giving back to current athletes.

“I swam all four years of high school, and I would love to swim every single day,” she said. “More than anything, I would love for the swim team to have long-term stability with coaching. It’s difficult to go from one year to the next with different coaches and wanting to have consistent results.”

Sanford has spent the past two weeks writing training strategies for the first fortnight of practice. Her plans outline when to focus on strength training, when to shift to endurance, and how to combine both so swimmers reach peak performance in time for competitions.

The first practice of the season is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 5, at 4:30 p.m. While there is no official deadline to join, team leaders encourage anyone interested to sign up before the first meet on Sept. 4 in Juneau.

Beyond competitive performance, the coaching staff wants to make the pool accessible to everyone in the student body. In addition to inviting middle schoolers to practice alongside high schoolers to get comfortable with the sport, leaders are encouraging athletes from other sports to consider swimming.

Sanford noted that low-impact aquatic training offers a great workout for strengthening cardiovascular fitness, as well as rehabilitating tired muscles or injuries like shin splints without joint strain.

“The beautiful thing about swimming is it doesn’t matter how old or young you are — swimming is something that everyone can do, and the benefits are so good,” she said.

“I’m just here to do my best, and I just want to help. I think there might be somewhat of a stigma attached to swimming for the swim team, and I would just really like for people to try it out and see what they think.”

Houser shares that optimism and looks forward to seeing student-athletes grow in and out of the water.

“I’m just very hopeful to see this develop into a successful program,” Houser said. “It’s just very rewarding to see the improvements that they make throughout the year and to see them build on those improvements from one year to the next.”

Following the opening meet in Juneau on Sept. 4, the regular season schedule includes meets in Ketchikan, Petersburg and Sitka. Postseason competition begins with the regional meet in Juneau on Oct. 30–31, followed by the state championship meet on Nov. 6–7 in Anchorage.