Swimming became part of the first modern Olympic Games back in 1896, in Athens, Greece. It first became a high school sport early in the 1900s. The Urbana swim team consists of a mixture of 65 boys and girls. The boys are coached by FOT teacher Steve Howard, while the girls are coached by Sue Lake.

Howard has been involved with the sport of swimming for 18 years, coached for multiple teams, and is currently the head boys coach at Urbana and coaches for a club team named “Fast,” and has been the coach at Urbana for two years.

Sophomore Jake Drumheller has been swimming competitively for 12 years and his favorite stroke is the breaststroke. Besides swimming, Drumheller plays ping pong, and his main sport, water polo. Drumheller said, “ Since swimming is not my main sport and I only do it to stay in shape, I am a little lazy, so my favorite distance to swim is the 50m because I don’t like swimming very far, and prefer to swim fast.” Drumheller said, “I like that it is good exercise and keeps you in good shape, but I also like that I get to splash around with my pals and wear a speedo.”

Senior captain Anna Arnold has been swimming for 7 years, and swims both in the winter for the high school and in the summer. Arnold said, “My favorite thing about swimming is personal records, practicing my skills, and that it’s a very fun loving and competitive environment.” Her favorite stroke is the freestyle, and her favorite distance is the 50m. Besides swimming, Arnold runs track, plays unified tennis, and dances. Arnold said, “Swimming is my main sport because I do it in both the summer and for the school.”

Sophomore Matt Sullivan is in his first year of competitive swimming. Sullivan said, “My favorite thing about swimming is that it’s in aerobic sport and offers great exercise. The bus rides are fun too because you’re not in the freezing water and you get to talk with your friends, and I also like practicing dance moves under the water.” Sullivans favorite stroke is the freestyle, and he likes to swim the 500m because, “It’s the longest one and it gives me time to think about myself while I’m swimming.” Besides swimming, Sullivan plays golf. Sullivan said, “Golf is my main sport, but I do swimming in the offseason to stay in top physical form.”