As fall sports come to an end, the transition to winter sports is underway. Obviously, sports like hockey and basketball are receiving the most attention, but one sport that is being slept on is none other than swimming and diving. And the team is ready to prove to people why they deserve to be talked about more often.

Last year, the girls’ team successfully recorded their 14th WPIAL title, while the boys’ team reached third place. Even though the girls’ team stands at the top of the WPIAL, junior Greta Mott is ready to achieve more.

“I want to place in the top five for the 100 back at WPIALs, get first in the 200 Medley Relay, go to states for the 100 back, 200 free and medley relay, and have the girls’ team win both WPIALs and states. Winning states is a bit of a reach, but there is always a possibility,” Mott said.

The girls’ 200 Medley Relay Team took 5th place at the PIAA Class AAA Championships last year and is hoping to do even better this year.

Mott has been extremely impressive in her first two years with the team, but two other members of the girls’ team who made a lot of noise throughout the offseason were seniors Christina Shi and Becca Melanson.

Shi committed to Harvard University for diving last year. She has continued to impress, as she repeated as PIAA Diving champ and also set a school dive record at North Allegheny last year.  Melanson recently committed to UCLA for water polo. However, she still is a member of the swimming team and is focused on bringing the team together to boost their chances of winning.

“The expectation is to work well together outside of the pool and to build positive connections, so when we get to our big games we have one another to lean on and cheer each other on,” Melanson said. Everyone’s times count towards a win. My goals are to shave time in the 50 and 10 freestyle. Top goal is to beat the 50 free pool record.”

The boys’ swimming team has not been as successful as the girls over the past years, but they still have always been relevant in the WPIAL conversation. This year is no different. In fact, junior William Gao was just recently selected to the USA Swimming National Diversity Select Camp. There is no doubt that this team has talent, and junior Jake Rechenmacher is impressed with what he has seen.

“I expect big things from NA Swim Dive,” he said. “I believe we are capable of winning WPIALs. We have some great upcoming freshmen who look really promising and bring new life to the team. If we put it all together, I think we can definitely achieve better than bronze.”

The team will kick off their season on Friday, December 2nd against North Catholic. Expectations are high this year, but there is no question that most won’t be surprised if they exceed them.