Athletics and team dynamics have always been foundational to the culture at Mater Dei, becoming part of its history. Understanding the dynamics of team cooperation, knowing when to expect the next move of your teammates, and working with, rather than against, each other, are all parts of what have made Mater Dei’s sports rankings so successful since its founding in 1950. However, not all sports categories that Mater Dei competes in are categorically team sports. Sports like swimming and diving, in which athletes compete in individual lanes, racing to beat their own times, and opponents times from other schools, put a high pressure on the individual athlete. Each swimmer is left to their own devices, dependent on their skills in the water to carry them through the race, and get to the finish line. Does individual competition play to their advantage, or is it harder on an athlete?

Since being a strong athlete is so important for those competing individually, coaches and swimmers are sure to work toward their strongest abilities and qualities. Finding a stroke that compliments the swimmer’s style, making them the fastest they can be in a race, is one of these key components.

Coach Maximilian Zimmerman, a former Mater Dei student, Class of ‘23, has returned to his Alma Mater as a swim coach. As a professional swimmer, Zimmerman understands the importance of knowing your body well enough to know what kind of stroke compliments your movement, and in turn, and changing personal preferences with growth and training.

“When I was in high school, I was very much a freestyle and backstroke [swimmer]. Now that I’m out of high school, my backstroke has fallen off. So now I’m just freestyling, but I can never do breaststroke for the life of me,” Zimmerman said. “If I ever think one of my [swimmers] is good at breaststroke, I’ve tried to encourage them to keep swimming it and get faster at it. And then as far as distances it’s just some people can sprint some people can’t. It’s just how their body was built. You can train to do the other one if you’d like but it takes a lot of work.”

Explaining how important training one’s body and personal stamina is, Zimmerman emphasizes the power of work ethic and understanding how fine tuning a stroke that is well suited for an athlete can help them go far. These steps, practiced with dedication, allows swimmers to work on improving their time for races, constantly trying to beat their own personal bests in time as crucial as seconds. In these moments, swimmers find that their teammates are their biggest support systems, keeping the energy high in the most difficult races.

Junior Gorretti Munoz speaks on her experience with the team, feeling comfortable in the environment that Swim has brought her, and coming to see that she would not be where she is today without the team that surrounds her.

“In my opinion, I believe that swim is a team sport. I feel that without my teammates there to support me along the way, I wouldn’t be as successful as I am now,” Munoz said. “We are all there to support each other and push each other to our best potential… We all support each other and we’re all so comfortable with each other. These are people we may remember for the rest of our lives.”

ALL FOR ONE In any sport, practice, persistence, and routine is key to improvement. But in a sport like Swimming and Diving, this becomes increasingly more important. As an individual competitor, making sure you are consistent in training, weight lifting, and healthy habits is key to your success as an athlete. As one excels in their own personal goals, they are also able to climb time ranks, and further assist their teams placement. These achievements, gauged by each individual’s successes, are an extremely unique but valuable skill swimmers are able to adapt and grow into.

THERE’S NO “I” IN TEAM Even in individual sports, being aware of and communicating with the people around you is extremely important. From sharing lanes at practices to meets, teammates are constantly surrounded by other swimmers. This group mentality includes cheering each other on and keeping each other going during the hardest legs of the races and early morning practices.