The St. Charles North girls swim team placed third overall with a total of 128 points after traveling to State on Saturday, Nov. 12. It took place in the FMC Natatorium in Westmont, IL.

Out of ten swimmers who went to state for North, five of them were seniors. The seniors that competed were Enya Linson, Nicole Burton, Elizabeth Bawolek, Skye Lentz and Kathryn Wolff. 

The girls swam year-long to have a successful season, which officially started Aug. 8. 

“I would say by the time we got [to state], they were definitely ready,” said girls swim head coach Rob Rooney. 

The seniors have been swimming for a very long time before their high school career. Many of them have been swimming since they were little and have been taking competitive swimming seriously for longer than just their high school years. 

“I’ve been swimming competitively since I was seven…All four years [of high school],” said Linson. 

The dedication and focus the seniors have devoted to swimming has allowed them to commit to colleges for their time after North. 

Both Nicole Burton and Linson committed to colleges to swim for during the next four years. Linson will swim for the University of California, Santa Barbara while Burton will be swimming for University at Buffalo. 

The team members agreed that the best part of the season was the connection that all of the swimmers had together. Throughout the season they all gained trust and strong bonds that heavily impacted how they were able to perform and reflect with each other.

“The seniors are really caring for each other and I think it says a lot about the roller coaster ride coming out of COVID. There’s a lot of things that had to happen and they worked very hard to get to the point where we were this year and it means a lot for them to care about what each other did, what their outcomes are and really be congratulatory for their success, but I really wish them the best in the future,” said Rooney.

Reflecting on the season, the swimmers were happy with how they have improved and strengthened not only their skills but also their relationships with each other.

 “I know that we had high hopes for this year and I feel like we really did live up to them. I’m really proud of us as a team, how we kind of bonded together in swimming but also as people,” said Burton.

This change from high school and a lifelong dedication to swimming into college and future careers is conflicting. While they’re excited to meet new people and experience new things, saying goodbye to the team they’ve all connected with will be difficult. 

“I’m just gonna miss the people here because I feel like we’ve all grown so close to each other and especially our senior class. I feel like we’ve been so connected…it’s meant a lot to all of us and like I said before, it’s definitely bittersweet to have to say goodbye,” Linson said.