The swim team dives into the season with their new head coach, Doug Kraemer. “He’s really nice and his coaching style is a little different, he’s more direct with everything which is good because it helps the swimmers that are at practice,” said senior captain Jules Wojcik. 

Kraemer was the assistant coach under Mike Fones last year, and has been coaching swim for 13 years. “This is my first year being the head coach… Mr. Fones has been here for quite some time, and it’s really still his, so I’m just looking forward to putting my mark on it a little bit,” said Kraemer. After swimming for Robinson in high school, Kraemer enlisted in the Marine Corps. After retiring from the military, he then became a swim coach. “I’m just really excited to be here at Robinson, the school that I swam for and both of my assistant coaches also swam for the team.”

The swim team hopes to advance in the district, region, and state competitions. “Hopefully the team wins states,” said junior captain JT Schmid. The team has been very successful in years past and have won six region titles between both teams in the past five. The girls team won regionals last year and the boys team placed second, with both teams scoring points at the state level. “Both sides should do very well this year, I’m really excited about it,” said Kraemer. 

Kraemer hopes to be very involved on the deck and with the swimmers. “I like it when [the coaches] actually interact with the kids, and get to know them,” said Wojcik. “I like it when they actually talk to you and get to know you. When they’re involved with the swimmer, with the person themselves, and can have a connection with them. If they don’t you’re just swimming for yourself, it makes me feel like they’re actually doing it for me and wanting to help me and not just win.”

The first swim meat of the season will be held on Dec. 2 against Alexandria City. The team will compete against every team in the district before the postseason beginning in late January. Dax Gorman, JT Schmid, Anneliese Jones, Jules Wojcik, Maddy Allbright, and Max Cotton are the six captains of the swim team. One goal the captains have for the season is the inclusion of all grades. “I was to include everyone because normally the seniors exclude the freshmen, like my freshmen year, so I want to be very inclusive and have a real team,” said Wojcik.