Abby Wilcox (’24) and Zarah Worth (’23) are on the swim team and absolutely love it! They have been swimming since they were both very young and have never stopped. 

“My mom swam in high school and so I started when I was seven,” Wilcox states.

“I started when I was five,” Worth adds.

The girls swim competitively on the high school team and a club team during the off-season called Des Moines Swimming Federation (DMSF). They have very long days when they are in season and don’t get a lot of time to relax.

“We lift three times a week from 5:50 am to 7 am and we swim everyday from 3:45 pm to 5:45 pm. And on Saturdays we swim for 2 hours, 7:00 am to 9:00 am.”

So the big question is, what do these girls do in their free time? Wilcox says it honestly.

“We have no free time it seems like. But if I do, I hang out with friends.”

Worth says, “I try to do a lot of homework.”

The swim girls work very hard day and night and they have had a successful swim season. 

“We have had seven meets and we are rated 2nd in the state right now,” Wilcox mentions.

“We are very good,” Worth adds.

There are many styles or strokes you can do in swimming. Wilcox is a backstroker and Worth is a butterflyer. Wilcox and Worth have some interesting opinions on why they like their stroke.

“I like backstroke because it’s very fast,” said Wilcox.

“I do butterfly because it doesn’t hurt so much,” Worth states.

They both compete in relays as well with their other teammates and love when they can team bond at meets. They both state how they feel like a family and how much they adore their team.

The girls have said that they do have some idols they look up to. 

“I look up to my mom because she was a swimmer and I look up to Julia Sweetman,” Wilcox states. 

Worth agrees, “I look up to Julia, too.”

Julia Sweetman is a senior on the swim team and very lovable.

The girls are looking forward to competing in state with the team they are so connected to.

“High school swimming is so much better than club swimming and the team is like family,” Worth concludes.

“Go out for the swim team!” Wilcox includes.

Sasha Gisi (’24) is a member of the DCHS diving team. She got into diving in a unique way.

“I was a gymnast for eight years and diving seemed like a good sport to transition to.” 

Gisi has very long days as a diver and she is also on a club team that she practices for in-season.

“We lift three times a week from 6:00 am to 7:00 am and we practice everyday after school from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm. I will have club practice one or two days a week from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm,” says Gisi.

Her club team is more meter-based and getting to know how to do new dives. She says that her high school team is way more fun and laid back. 

With all of this diving, Gisi says that she likes to read and run in her free time and even wishes she ran cross country. However, she loves her diving team and they are all close friends.

“We are all very close and hangout outside of school. We are always laughing and smiling.”

The diving team has done an amazing job this season. There are always three or four girls in the top ten rankings at meets.

Gisi has an idol that she tends to look up to the most.

“I look up to Lauren Wilkinson who is an Olympic diver. I like her because she has a family with kids and I love looking at her posts.”

Gisi is excited for her season and is interested to see what will happen at state. Gisi can’t wait to see how will she will do. 

“I am hoping to place in the top ten this year at state,” she says.