The Plano West Swim team came back strong following a challenging season amidst the pandemic. 

Tia Tewari, 12, Captain of the Plano West Swim team, is excited about how the season is currently going. 

“We have had a total of 7 meets and have won five of them. Our team is on track to compete in districts, regionals, and state,” said Tewari.

Tewari said this year the swim team was already excelling in performance.

“Our last year’s state relay’s record has already been broken so we are definitely excited for next semester!” said Tewari.

Last year was certainly a challenging season for West swim as the pandemic placed restrictions on the teams’ ability to perform. 

“The pandemic affected us in a lot of ways. We lost our practice facility, TMC, due to their safety precautions, so we shared a pool with Plano Senior and our practice was cut down,” said Tewari. 

Luckily many swimmers were able to solve for the lack of practice space, insuring every player stayed on track. 

“I think most of our swimmers also swim on club teams that have their own pools, which means that they were able to get back to practice quite soon after everything shut down (with masks, of course).”

Despite the challenges the pandemic brought west swim, Tewari said there were still plenty of highlights. 

“…since for most of us it was the only time we were able to see people other than our family, we got closer as a team and broke a lot of records,” said Tewari.

Being part of Plano West’s steller swim team is not an easy feat. Tewari said keeping up with the rigorous challenges of west swim can be hard. 

“ Oftentimes it becomes hard to motivate yourself or brush off bad swims,” said Tewari. “Even during the race, if you get tired, it is up to you to push past it because you can hear your teammates screaming for you at the wall.”

To push through the challenges of West swim, Tewari said spending time with the team is her favorite aspect of being on the team. 

“I enjoy team bonding– whether it’s through Fun Fridays, water polo, or meets, I really like spending time with and getting to know my teammates.”

Beyond West, Tewari and many of the other West swim captains hope to continue swimming at college. 

You can keep up with the Plano West Swim team on Instagram @pwshswim