It has been a strange year for high school sports, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. State tournaments were cancelled, mitigation plans were drafted, travel and in-person competition were limited.
The situation was no different for the Wrangell High School swim team. Their season came to an abrupt end in early November, when in response to increasing cases across the state the City and Borough of Wrangell closed their facilities to the public. This included the community pool. While the season was cut short, Coach Jamie Roberts said she was very proud of her team and their performance.
"It was tough, I felt like it kind of might be coming," Roberts said about the pool closure. "We felt fortunate that we were able to get together and practice every day."
The end of their season was sad, Roberts said, especially because they were only about a week away from regionals when city buildings were shut. They considered traveling to Craig for regionals, but she said she decided that would not be a good idea for the team's health.
While most of their meets this season were virtual, Roberts said that she was proud that her team never complained or had any pity-parties. They always showed up and practiced hard, and then competed in virtual meets to the best of their abilities. Her swimmers really improved over the season, she said, peaking right before regionals.
"Based on their performances at these meets, they were showing improvement each meet," Roberts said.
The season was a good life lesson for the team, she said, as well as an example of how peoples' collective decisions in response to the pandemic can impact others. The kids got the short end of the stick this year, she said, as they had to deal with wearing masks, going to school, needing to socially distance from friends, and still get their swim season changed from normal. Still, she said she was proud of them for dealing with all the changes and stress. The season has served as a lesson that things can go wrong, but you can still come back.
"That's a life lesson," Roberts said. "I guess I like to infuse swimming with life lessons ... We're lucky we got a season."
There were three seniors on the swim team, according to Roberts: Jacob Allen, Aaliyah Messmer, and Bruce Smith. Roberts said she was proud of them, and the team in total. She also said that she was happy parents of the swimmers got to come watch their final meet of the season back in November, thanks to a mitigation plan she and the parks and recreation department were able to put together. She said that she is interested to see what next year might bring, and is optimistic that her returning swimmers will be able to get back into the water and pick up right where they left off.
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