With the change in seasons bringing new energy into LM, winter athletic teams prepare to make their mark, or splash. The LM boys’ swim and dive team is especially focused as they work towards a season of growth and success. Coming off a very successful season, with many swimmers qualifying for centrals, the team looks to follow up last season with an even more victorious 2025-2026 season. After months of preparation, they are ready to focus on growth and maintaining momentum going into the winter.
As anticipation builds towards the beginning of the 2025-2026 season, the recently completed offseason for LM boys’ swim and dive stands out as a pivotal time of growth and improvement. LM swimmers spent their off-season swimming, with many participating in water polo, a fall sport offered by LM. When asked, Simeon Kohler ’28 explained how playing water polo, “helps [swimmers] get stronger and gain lots of muscle but also helps prevent burnout of the sport by giving [them] something else to train for.”
This balance between recovery and growth defines LM boys’ swim and dive’s approach to the offseason. These LM athletes, unlike others, take advantage of the time off, using it to develop and build a foundation for the next season, ensuring even greater success.
Going into a new season, every team’s goal is to find success and improve what they struggled with from the previous season. Many people, coaches and captains alike, contribute to this team mentality, shaping it to be flexible and open to change. For LM boys’ swim and dive, the team’s captains, including captains Will Stark ’27 and Dylan McGuire ’27, play a critical role in the success of the team. They assist in motivating their teammates while also ensuring that the environment of the team is open and supportive. The leadership skills that these captains depict are not only demonstrated outside of the pool but also show up during practice and games. Kohler shared how “team captains…keep everyone on top of things…both [at] practices and meets. They make sure nobody is slacking and that everyone feels included and represented in the sport.” LM boys’ swim and dive captains are the glue that makes up teams, as they form communication bridges between coaches and athletes and work together to make these hardworking swimmers the best that they can be.
Another important component to success is the team’s motivation. Motivation provides the reasoning, the hope, and the support needed to drive change and growth. Without it, the chances of true success wither away. In the case of LM boys’ swim and dive, they find their motivation from within: in the water, in the lanes, on the deck, and in their teammates. LM swimmers cheer on each other at meets, give out high fives at the end of a particularly difficult practice, and always provide friendly competition that inspires growth. This companionship and support allows for swimmers to reach their goals and become better.
As a new season begins, every team sets goals for themselves. Commonly, the goals are things that did not happen in the previous season that coaches and players hoped to achieve. Throughout the course of the offseason and regular season, players work to make sure they meet their goals. The goal for LM boys’ swim and dive couldn’t be more clear. They want to win. They want to improve their times. They want to sharpen their techniques. They want to push themselves. They want to find success. They want to send swimmers to the Central League championship this year. And it all begins at practice. As shared by Kohler, team practices are “An hour 45 minutes long, with three stages: a warm-up, main set, and cool-down” and “are designed to force people to work hard but not to be impossible for most team members” while still ensuring the success LM swimmers desire. These practices are the building blocks for sending more swimmers and divers to higher-level meets and for seeing more wins on their record.
With the previous seasons and offseason behind them, LM boys’ swim and dive is ready to make a successful splash into the 2025-2026 season. The team enters the pool with determination and focus, ready to accomplish their goals and make their mark on school history.
