By Jay Ahuja
Records are meant to be broken, but for that to happen, you have to put in the hard work. The NNHS girls swim team did just that this season.
“In order to be successful, you have to put in the hard work. That’s just what our girls did,” Head Coach Kristy Holben of the girls swim team said.
This past weekend at the state meet for girls swimming and diving, the Huskies placed 12th as a team, which is a team record. Senior Amy Novak placed 5th in the 50 freestyle, which is also a new team record. Senior Amy Williams placed seventh in the 100 butterfly, which is her personal best and a new team record.
“Anna Williams and Amy Novak did very well. Anna has been out for two years because of her back surgery, but she has made an amazing comeback. She has worked very hard to get to where she is right now,” Coach Holben said.
One month ago, Amy Novak said, “I want to win it all at DuPage Valley Conference (DVC) and Sectionals. I want to 
be in the top three in state in 50 freestyle.”
Novak was able to win at DVC, but just missed her goals for the state meet. She set very high expectations for herself, and that’s what every athlete needs to do in order to keep their competitive edge and triumph in high pressure circumstances. Novak didn’t swim her entire junior year, but made a comeback of her own to do things that not many people expected.
“Novak set very high expectations, and practiced diligently every day, before and after school,” said Assistant Coach Andrew McWhirter.
Even though this season is over, the Huskies have a lot to look forward to, from young talents like freshman Devin Jacobs to junior Michelle Law. There are many more records to be broken.
Q and A with Anna Williams
By Noelle Kirkman
Q: I heard that you were injured last year. What was your injury?
AW: I had back problems. I had two herniated discs and in December of last year I had surgery on it. Before the surgery I had two years of trying other treatments to avoid the surgery.
Q: how did you injure yourself?
AW: It was an overtime thing that happened. It was probably October of my sophomore year [when she started having back problems].
Q: I also heard that the doctor told you that you would never swim again, is that true?
AW: The first doctor I went to said that if I wanted to continue walking I would have to stop swimming. We went to another doctor for a second opinion; she said that she wasn’t going to tell a fifteen year old that you can’t do anything. We tried Epidural Steroid injections and physical therapy, neither of those worked. We went to one more doctor who said that the surgery would be beneficial for me and it ended up working.
Q: How long was it before you did swim again?
AW: The surgery was in December; I got into therapeutic swimming in February and started to fully train again in April.
Q: How did it feel to come back to swimming?
AW: It was really nice knowing that all the hard work over the summer paid off. It’s a very satisfying feeling to know my hard work paid off in the end.
Q: Was it a hard transition or did swimming come back to you pretty naturally?
AW: It was definitely very hard because there are a lot of failures before successes. I knew it was very hard to do, but it was easy when I had a goal in my head.
Q: How was swimming overall all season?
AW: It started off pretty well, and then went down in the middle [of the season]. But then I got my goal time at the end. [Goal time: 55.89 seconds in the 100 fly]
Q: Did your back ever bother you during the season?
AW: There were occasional times when it did, but it wasn’t pain, it was aching from practice.
Q: So you broke a school record at state, congrats on that! What event did you break the record in and what was your time?
AW: I got a record in the 100 fly and the 200 medley relay. [ 100 fly: 55.71, 200 Medley: ?]
Q: What was your reaction when you found out you broke the record?
AW: I was actually really shocked. I didn’t expect to do as well as I did. It was a really great feeling to know all my hard work paid off.
Q: What was your family’s reaction?
AW: My dad was cheering and had a huge smile on his face. They felt really proud.
Q: Are you going to continue swimming in the future?
AW: I’m currently looking at colleges to swim. My number 1 choice is University of Alabama because I want to go into nursing and they have a good nursing program. I also have always wanted to live in the south.
