On Feb. 4, the Clarke Central High School swim team will attend the Georgia High School Association state swim meet. CCHS had eight state qualifiers. “Among the area teams that we tend to swim against, we’ve kind of established where we normally are and who’s normally ahead of us and who’s normally behind us, and we’ve kind of maintained that this year,” head swim coach Emily Hulse said. “But I do think we’ve gotten a few more people qualified for the state meet this year than last year, so that’s a positive.” Photo by Julie Alpaugh.
By ANA ALDRIDGE – Print Writing Coach
Clarke Central High School swimmers prepare for their state meet, which will take place on Feb. 4.
Eight Clarke Central High School swimmers will attend the Georgia High School Association Swimming State Championship on Feb. 4. The meet will take place in Atlanta at the Georgia Institute of Technology Campus Recreation Center.
“(Swimmers) can qualify (for state) throughout the entire season. It’s based on time. So even in the first meet, if they swim a certain event under a certain time, they qualify,” CCHS foreign language department chair and head swim coach Emily Hulse said.
Hulse says that despite having less seniors, the swim team is performing at a comparable level to last season’s team.
“(The season) has been pretty similar (to last year). We had some seniors, though, who graduated and we’re definitely missing them. But we have a few first time swimmers this year who kind of took those places, and so it’s a pretty similar situation,” Hulse said. “Among the area teams that we tend to swim against, we’ve kind of established where we normally are and who’s normally ahead of us and who’s normally behind us, and we’ve kind of maintained that this year.”
Freshman Lucy Yeomans will be competing in the state meet. Yeomans believes that the effort she put into her first year swimming for CCHS is paying off.
“I’ve been swimming year-round for (Athens Bulldog Swim Club) since I was seven. (Swimming for CCHS for the first time) was just a little busier because I had some extra swim meets to go to,” Yeomans said. “I think some people that are on my (ABSC) team, they don’t try as hard at the high school meets, because I guess it’s easier to win or something. But I’ve been trying at the meets and this is actually the first year I’ve made it to any kind of year-round state meet, so that’s exciting.”
The CCHS swim season is officially over on Feb. 4, the day of the state meet. Hulse hopes for greater attendance at practices next season.
“Next season I hope to get more people involved in the team. Attendance has been a little bit of an issue this year, so I hope to do something to increase attendance at practices if possible,” Hulse said.
