The Homestead Girls Swim Team dove into the 2025 season at the Homestead pool, focusing on building teamwork and improving swimmers’ times.

This fall, the team trains six days a week to strengthen relationships and push the swimmers to meet their personal goals. In addition, team members participate in many activities outside of the pool itself that strengthen their bonds.

The Homestead Girls Varsity Swim Coach, Becky Tessman, said, “Community is built through shared experiences. Early in the season, I pair swimmers with teammates they don’t know well and give them specific questions to ask each other. As the season progresses, we strengthen those connections through team dinners and daily interactions. At practice, we come together to push each other towards our goals and cheer each other on, especially when trying new events or facing new challenges.”

Swimmers and coaches also value setting personal and team goals and achieving them during the season. In practice, coaches push every girl out of their comfort zone to learn a new stroke or to try something they have never done. Coaches and the girls say that this helps them grow as swimmers.

Nola Callen, junior on the varsity swim team, said, “My goal is to get better, drop time, and to swim more events that I normally wouldn’t swim, so I get more of a feel for everything. Also, to go out of my comfort zone to swim more.”

Throughout the season, the team also focuses more on personal progress, rather than solely comparing themselves to other teams they compete against. Although they have fallen to some very good teams recently, coaches focus on improving as a team and as individuals, rather than solely winning meets.

The Homestead Girls Varsity Swim Assistant Coach, Christel Callen, said, “I always try just to emphasize that we are swimming against ourselves; the goal should be to beat our own times and not compare ourselves to others.”

The swim team will be competing at the conference meet on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025 at Grafton High School.