For any high schooler, playing a sport is a major time commitment. After school practices every day and grueling workouts make it hard for any student to keep up. Members of the swim team, however, takes the time commitment to the next level.

Senior Megan Boushka has been a varsity swimmer all four years of high school and is one of only three seniors this season.

“My freshman year we started with six or seven girls [in our class],” she said. “People quit because of injuries or just because swimming is super intense. It takes dedication, so a lot of people quit unless they were competitive club swimmers.”

Boushka said the time commitment makes balancing swim and school hard.

“I lose a lot of sleep trying to keep up with school,” she said. “I sleep maybe five hours a night, which is not good for my health. I get sick a lot during season because I’m in four weighted classes and swimming for hours a day.”

She said although swim is a lot of work, the girls are closer because of it and spend a lot of time together outside of the sport.

“It definitely makes practice go a lot faster if you’re laughing and having fun in your lane,” Boushka said. “It makes the morning practices and getting up at the crack of dawn easier. Every Thursday, most of the team goes out to breakfast after morning practice. We have team dinners before every meet, and we always have a team sleepover where we go on a scavenger hunt.”