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Catoctin High School makes a splash

Jen Hosey

(1/17) After several students and teachers voiced interest in beginning a swim team at Catoctin High School, the idea was discussed and approved by the Frederick County Board of Education, and the team took to the water on November 15, 2007.

Coaches Rebecca Reinhard and Jen Hosey, both teachers at CHS, were initially skeptical that they would have enough of a turn out to have a solid team. They were pleasantly surprised when 25 students came to the first day of practice. After the first weeks of practice, the team has settled into their season with a total of 18 swimmers: 5 boys and 13 girls. The Cougars practice at the Walkersville High School pool five days a week and call it their home pool when hosting meets.

The new swim team started their season off with a tri-meet against Brunswick and Middletown High Schools and walked away with one first-place, two second-place, three third-place, and four fourth-place finishes in their races. Although they did not win the meet in point standings, it was an impressive and confidence-building start for a first-year team.

In their second meet, they swam against Frederick and showed further improvement claiming three first-place finishes in two individual races and a relay.
Considering only five of their swimmers had previous experience with competitive swimming, the team has done well in their first two meets. Hosey boasted about her swimmers, “Right now we are concentrating on beating our own times each meet, but we couldn’t be prouder of all the progress our swimmers are making each and every practice. We are so excited to see what the rest of the season holds for our team.”

With a young team and continuing exposure to the community, the coaches and the athletic department anticipate that this year will be the start of a growing swim program at CHS and hope for even larger numbers next season.

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