Saturday morning at 7:40 a.m. is where the real struggle hits. Leaving your bed is the hardest thing to do in the morning, but you have too. You have made a commitment towards your team and you can’t ditch them just to sleep in on a Saturday morning. You reluctantly wake up and force a dry granola bar down your throat and get ready for the cold water. The drive to school is silent, the silence helps mentally prepare oneself before the actual swimming begins. You change into your cold jammers and get your goggles ready. You approach the cold water and jump in. The sheer cold of the water wakes up instantly and you start swimming to keep warm. This may seem like a drag to some people and complete waste of time to others, but let me tell you how swimming has changed my life and helped me in my high school career.

The boys last year had won the Northern Central Suburban League conference. The team won with the help of the two new freshman that came into Niles North, the Zagorov twins. Anthony and Michael Zagorov helped secure the win last year with the last 400 meter relay. Anthony Zagorov had a strong start and was leading out of all the teams that were present at the NCSL, however he was soon overtaken by the other swimmers. His brother Michael Zagorov stepped up. His determination and passion is what led to his team to victory.

“I didn’t know what came over me, but I just know that I wanted to win the final relay for my team and for myself. I worked too hard throughout the season just too lose at the end” Michael Zagorov said.

“If I hadn’t done swimming I don’t know what I would have done with my highschool career” Justin Imhof, senior said.

Swimming will keep you in check and will help you form friendships that you wouldn’t normally have. I have met a lot of good friends through swimming. One of them even has the same name as me. Swimming is an amazing sport with tons of health benefits. It’s good for people with bad knees who hate running. Swimming also increases the strength and size of your heart. There are many ways swimming helps out when it comes to health.

The boy’s swimming team is starting tomorrow on Nov. 23, come and reap the health benefits and make some cool new friends.