On Friday, Jan. 9, the varsity boys swim and dive team lost to their crosstown rival, Naperville Central.

Senior captain Joe Cassano said that the Redhawks prepared them for the calibre of competition that they will see at the upcoming state meet.

“It was a great experience for us as a team,” Cassano said. “We got to face our crosstown rivals and some of the best swimmers in the state. It’s always a fun meet with them, and this time was no different.”

Even though the Huskies fell short, senior Michael Sun said that the team swam well.

“Many of us didn’t see the results that we would have liked, but a few guys had some really standout performances,” Sun said. “We’ve been working really hard the past few weeks over break, and we’re all waiting for it to pay off at the end of the season.”

As the season progresses, Sun said the team will spend more time refining individual strengths and weaknesses.

“Individually, we all have our specific points of focus,” Sun said. “As we begin tapering our practices in a couple weeks, that will be the time to focus on quality even more so.”

According to Cassano, a lot of swimmers on the team have been sick lately. He said the absences affected their performance on Friday.

“We’ve had a lot of kids sick and absent recently so that’s been tough to deal with,” Cassano said. “Now that most people are back and healthy, we just have to keep up the intensity during practices and make sure that we’re transferring that to the meets.”

More than ever, the team looks forward to improving together. Friday’s loss did not dampen their spirits.

“Outside of the water, team spirit is still as strong as ever,” Sun said. “It’s just important that we keep it up until the end.”