RM Swim has seen one of its most successful seasons this year with six college commits across two grade levels. Seniors Elliot Lee to Yale, Natalia Evans-Gibson to Carnegie-Mellon, Livia Venditti to Brown, Sarah Eliason to Brigham Young University and Shad Frantz to Salisbury. Additionally, Junior Alex Nguyen has committed to Northwestern.
Not only have these six accomplished huge goals, but they have fueled their teammates as well. “So because they’re so dedicated to the sport, you know, it shows up when they race and then that kind of inspires all their teammates to kind of swim stronger and faster,” chemistry teacher and coach Ashkay Gandhi said.
Despite their success, Mr. Gandhi is determined to keep the team on track. “Just staying, you know, committed in regards to you know, knowing what they’re trying to do when they get up to the blocks, being confident and committed is the most important thing, you know, I think that it’s hard to constantly do your best times and best performances,” Mr. Gandhi said. The main thing Mr. Gandhi wants his swimmers to learn is to trust the process, citing the teachings of many professional athletes.
Nearing the end of the regular season, Mr. Gandhi shared his predictions for his team’s success in post-season meets. “[W]e’ll have our championship meets starting in February with divisionals, metros, regionals, and states,” Mr. Gandhi said. “And so all of those should be really, really easy. Our girls team should be really, really good. Still probably top three in the state again. And then our boys team, I think, is also up there and has the possibility of being top three as well.”
Senior swim captain Shad Frantz confidently echoed Mr. Gandhi saying, “we’re going to win divisionals.”
Although they are a team, the nature of their sport makes it more difficult for swimmers to bond. Oftentimes, small gestures such as a pregame handshake or a fistbump can be missed. “We have social events that we do together as a team to try and just still make sure that everyone is staying together and connected,” Mr. Gandhi said. “[To] me, one of the most important things is that mental, social connection as a team.”
For Frantz, a good portion of high school swimming is having fun with his team and meeting new people. With his confidence going in the postseason, he can work on fine-tuning time cuts and not worrying too much about what lies ahead.
These six college commits have prompted a wave of motivation that has been instrumental in their success. “I think, you know, we watch those kids swim and they usually win their races and dominate their races and everyone’s kind of in awe and impressed by them, so it kind of gives everyone something to work with towards, like it’s something visible and attainable, to people on the team.”
