MariellaVirgillito

As returning state champions, Crusader Swim and Dive’s season is off to a promising start. “It is always difficult to defend the title, especially after tying with Westside last year. With the success our program has had over the last 25 years, the State title has always seemed within our grasp,” Coach BJ Christiansen said. 

This will be his tenth year coaching and his goals remain the same. “Our goal each year is always to have fun, be a great team and improve. Becoming a better person and teammate will lead to much greater results than focusing on times and performance,” Christiansen said. 

The Crusader Swim Team will be competitive this year. A strong group of freshmen joins the returning girls who have even more experience. This year’s team is showing some improved depth from last year. “A strong team culture will make us a formidable opponent,” Christiansen said. 

Coach Christiansen plans to develop a few changes to the program. “Each year is a new opportunity for practices. I like to take feedback and hear ideas from the girls. If there is a set that will make them feel confident, then we will fit it in,” Christiansen said. It also helps build the relationships with the coaches to have an open line of communication.

This year, they will continue to explore more ideas to increase speed and power in the water. The new assistant coach, Danielle Dilsaver, loves to use swim training paddles which connect to the swimmer’s fingers. The paddles make it harder to swim, changing the way water flows with each stroke. It then requires more strength to propel through the water, developing upper body strength.

Although swim and dive are scored together, they are essentially two different sports paired because they use the same pool. Swimming is racing different lengths of the pool trying to be the fastest. It is similar to running races in track, just in a pool. Placement is decided by times, where faster times place higher. Diving sees athletes jump off of a diving board and perform different combinations of flipping and twisting movements. They are then judged by officials and given scores. These scores are added up throughout the meet, and higher scores place higher. 

The dive coach, Kevin Hansen, does not feel pressure as returning State champions. “This may be a rebuilding year,” Hansen said. 

Hansen is not planning on making any dramatic changes to the routine. “I like consistency and setting expectations as a constant,” Hansen said. 

Senior Hailey Eriksen has been diving for three high school seasons and she recently signed to dive at the University of South Dakota to continue her athletic career. 

Eriksen did not start thinking about diving in college until the middle of her junior year. “My recruiting became more serious towards the end of my junior year. I started going on sports recruiting visits, which is when I really knew I wanted to continue diving in college,” Eriksen said.

 For Eriksen, the recruitment process was pretty grueling. It took her about a year of contacting coaches, calls, emails and visits for Eriksen to get all of the pieces of the puzzle together to make the decision. “Although I ended up missing a lot of school at the beginning of my senior year, all of the traveling was definitely worth it,” Eriksen said. 

As the only senior diver this year, Eriksen is most looking forward to the senior night meet at the University of Nebraska Omaha on Jan 19. Some of Eriksen’s goals for this season are to clean up her diving routines from previous years and add techniques with higher difficulty. 

For Swim and Dive, they are one team. “We value everyone’s contributions no matter what age or ability level. I look for leadership and contributions to the team from each team member,” Christiansen said. 

“It is a long and grueling season. The girls thrive on well wishes in the hallway and ‘good jobs’ after meets,” Christiansen said. More importantly, come to swim and dive meets. Support means the world to the athletes and cheering really does make a difference. Finally, follow along their social media: @marianswimdive.