12/4/15

By: Amber Taylor, Astrid Onesto and Carina Carrera Flores

“The 2015-16 Swim team should have a very strong and successful year for the Phoenix Pirates,” said their head coach Jim Health. Last year was a very successful year for both girls and boys, with the boys winning Districts and the girls taking third. The season should be filled with lots of fun and exciting competitions.

This year a lot has changed for the swim team program at Phoenix. One of the big changes this year is their practice location. The swim team used to practice at Southern Oregon University, but the SOU pool has been torn down and is not being rebuilt. The swim team has to practice outside at the Daniel Meyer Pool in Ashland, Oregon. The swim team practices five times a week and usually has meets on Saturdays. The team is thankful for having a heated pool to practice in and they wanted to say thank you for letting them use their pool for practices!

This year should be a very successful year for the team. They have eleven seniors who helped with their strong and winning season last year. The swim team added some newcomers this year. They have about nine new swimmers ranging from freshmen to juniors. They are looking forward to having a fun season while learning different techniques and making new friends.

Their first competition of the 2015/16 season will be Saturday, December 5th at the Medford YMCA. The teams will be competing against North Valley and Hidden Valley at the meet. The meet starts at 3:00 pm on Saturday. They would love and appreciate the support from their peers and you could follow their journey on their way to Districts! To get more involved with swim, even if you are not a part of the team, they will be having a can drive on January 3rd. You can either sit your used cans outside in front of your house, leave them in a bin, or wait for them to come and knock on your door. The can drive helps the team pay for their travel cost, uniforms, and any other expenses the team will need.