As winter sports begin to move into regular practices for the first time in almost two years, Oakdale’s Swim & Dive team has been working hard to prepare for a successful season. There are many new faces, including a new Coach and several sophomores and freshmen that are ready to work their hardest to make their mark this season.

The two parts of the team, swimmers and divers, are more separate than they have been in the past, as they are unable to practice in the same place.

Since Oakdale does not have a pool, the swimmers practice at the YMCA in Urbana. While traveling can be inconvenient, the team does think that the facility has a very nice pool. They practice there Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 4:15-5:30pm.

The other major side of the team, the diving side, has also undergone a lot of changes. This side of the team has experienced a very large amount of growth. Senior diver Suhane Tandon explained, “We do have new freshmen, which is nice. Before there were only like 5 people on the dive team, but now we have 9 divers, and we have the most divers in Frederick County.”

Senior swimmer Maya Pabis gave her opinions on the start of the season, stating that “The Oakdale team is really a nice group of people… It’s nice getting back into shape in a healthy way, and we have some new people… it’s just nice to meet everybody.”

The team has also had to adapt to the new leadership of Coach Damon Allen. Pabis also offered some insight on this matter, explaining, “It’s definitely new because we have had the same coaches for a long time. We still do have one coach that’s the same as we’ve had for all four years and that’s kind of comfortable.”

As the team moves back into their regular competitions, interesting rivalries have begun to develop with several other schools. Perhaps the most interesting among these is Oakdale’s social media rivalry with Governor Thomas Johnson High School. Tandon gave her opinions on this rivalry, explaining, “I’m really enjoying the rivalry going on, especially since last Counties, [TJ’s] boys team did beat our boys team, so it’s fresh, it’s still there.”

So far, the team has competed in 4 meets. They went up against Urban on Dec. 8, Middletown on Dec. 13 Frederick on Dec. 16, and Catoctin on Jan 3. Throughout these 4 meets, the boys side of the team has gone undefeated, winning against all 4 teams by a significant margin. The girls team has seen similarly exceptional results, winning three of the meets, losing only to Urbana.

As the year goes on, the Oakdale Swim and Dive team will continue to train hard to prepare. They have many goals and are looking forward to a successful season. When asked about her goals moving into the remainder of the season, Tandon’s answer was short and decisive: “Undefeated.”