Every year that has passed since Triton’s co-op swim team was created, the team has gotten bigger and bigger, and is now at its record year of participation with almost 60 swimmers, swimming out of the Newburyport YWCA. In order to see what has changed in the 5 years since the swim team first started, what being a co-op team is like and captains roles, The Triton Voice sat down with Triton’s captain Amanda Sheehan.

You’ve been swimming for a while now, so how does swim affect your life?

“Swim is a huge part of my life. Whether it be for high school practices, club practices, teaching swim lessons or lifeguarding, I basically live at the Y.”

How did you get involved in swim?

“I was never super athletic growing up and I always loved being in the water, either at the beach or in the pool. I decided to join a club swim team when I was young as a way to get active and really found a love for the sport that was only made stronger by joining the high school team.”

The swim team is considered a co-op. What does that mean and who do you co-op with?

“A co-op is a collection of schools competing together under one athletic team. We are a Triton hosted co-op and underneath the Triton host team, we have swimmers from Pentucket, Newburyport, and Georgetown High Schools.”

You are a captain. What do you think the most important thing you do as a captain is?
“I think as a captain it is important to be inclusive and try to foster and grow the team spirit. As being part of a co-op team, with many people going to different schools, it’s important to have a team with spirit and a close knit team bond.”

The team has had trouble with people not showing up to metes, and people with injuries. How does the team cope with that and how do you work with these factors?  

“Our coach, Diane Sagaser, spends a lot of time leading up to a meet looking at the prospective meet lineup of the other team and tentatively scores out the meet. With our meet event lineups, it’s always subject to change with things like illness and injury and in that case swimmers events will be moved around to accommodate.”

What do you expect for the team and what do you think is next for the team?

“Over the last 5 years since the team has been founded, we have seen a tremendous amount of growth. We went from a team of 25 to close to 60 members. In the future, we can only hope for more growth and more sectionals and states qualifications. For the boys specifically, we have never had any qualifiers and we are really excited as this year we have multiple boys who have a really good chance to qualify. I’m expecting great things from this season and seasons to come. Go Vikes!”