After another successful season, the Greeley West swimming and diving team was proud to have a team of 16 girls qualify for the state tournament.

The aquatic Spartans are involved in a total of 11 swim events in addition to the five divers  who qualified. This team is no stranger to success as they were the only team in the 4A state division to take four divers to state this year. At the same time, the swim team would continue to have amazing times throughout their meets.

The swim team won three out of the five duals they competed in during the conference season.  They went undefeated at home meets. These results have led the team to be second in the 4A/3A division, reaching first, second, and third in multi-team meets.

Seeing as the team has repeated success throughout the years, you can only wonder how they do it.

Coach Colin Shaha shared that the teams’ success is built on the analogy of a spider web. “The team’s relationship with each other connects throughout the whole team,” Shaha explained. “All the swimmers can have their own cliques, but the beauty of the relationship is that they know they can rely on each other.”

Senior Akam Chahal has been in the program for all four years of high school she feels that success always starts with the senior role models that set the bar and examples for the underclassmen swimmers.

“As a freshman and sophomore I had upperclassmen teammates that really inspired me and were role models, so as a captain last year and this year, I’ve tried really hard to be a role model this year,” Chahal explained.

Chahal also explained that having a welcoming environment in the team also helps have a positive mindset that plays a role in the success of the team.

“I’ve been swimming for a while now, so I just try my best to make sure that the new swimmers are comfortable,” Chahal stated. “ It gets them excited for the meets which also helps the team stay in an optimistic and positive mood throughout the meets.”

Senior Davanee Mckinney feels that there has been an improvement in the connection between the team compared to last year. “Last year I feel like the team wasn’t whole at all,” Mckinney shares. “This year the bond got to a point where there was a friendly competitive vibe that held everyone together at their best level.”

Mckinney shared a memory that shows the encouragement between the team and Coach Shaha himself and how swimming has helped her stay positive. “Oddly enough, my favorite memories come from the morning practices which were at 5:30,” Mckinney recalled.  “But with a coach like Shaha, he encourages you so much that by the time practice finishes and your day truly starts, you feel accomplished and motivated to keep on going.”

It’s no surprise that the team’s success is through the relationships they build as teammates, as they performed at the state tournament they were able to represent what the Spartan culture and community is.