The intramural swim team has made its return to Muhlenberg after a long hiatus spearheaded by two students, Noah Rones `26 and Elizabeth Abrams `26. There has not been a swim club or intramural team since 2016.
“Over the summer, Noah and I connected over our shared interest in forming some sort of structured swim routine,” said Abrams. “After that, we worked together to reach out to Coach Brad Hackett to get our idea up and running.” Hackett is the head coach of the cross-country and track teams and the director of intramural sports at Muhlenberg. He is the person to contact if you want to start or have any questions about starting an intramural team or sports club. “There has been a swim club, much like ours, in the past, so we knew there would be interest, and Coach Hackett was very eager to help us get started. After that, we set up meetings to put together all of the materials we needed to create the club and get a table at the club fair!”
“The majority of the activities within the recreation program are student driven,” said Hackett. “If we have students who request a particular activity, we try as best we can to create an environment that will enable this activity to grow. I had two freshmen contact me over the summer expressing an interest in getting the swimming group back up and active–therefore we are making an effort to get this activity back up and running.”
“I think the most intimidating part for me was just that I had never founded a club in high school, so all the steps we had to take were new to me,” Abrams comments. “It ended up being a great experience, though. Muhlenberg has a lot of resources that can help even a couple freshmen to start something up.”
“I have been swimming ever since I was four years old,” said Abrams. “I started in lessons and then got a bit more serious and joined a local swim club and competed. I also was co-captain of the junior varsity swim team at my high school for two years. I have never been all that fast, so I knew I wanted a club that would provide the space for personal improvement without too much pressure.”
For now, the intramural swim team is not competing against other schools. The purpose of the club is meant for anybody who wants to go and improve their swimming skills. “We are staying as a club focused on personal improvement without any intention to compete. If club members express an interest in competing, we may have to consider it, but for now we’re happy to be a safe space to swim and grow as swimmers,” Abrams commented.
“Before each practice, Noah and I craft a workout made up of different strokes of different distances along with drills,” said Abrams. “Right now, we’ve been trying to set one focus for each practice, so, for example, we had one night where we focused on backstroke technique.”
There are some limitations–the pool’s hours are restricted to the hours the school can staff lifeguards. The 25 meter pool is also not shown on tours and is not advertised much by the school.
“When we started the club, we were offered the ability to choose times that already had scheduled lifeguards and reserve them for only the club, but we decided to hold the club during regular open swim time instead,” said Abrams. “We knew that the club would likely start small and would not interfere too much with people at the pool for open swim. Depending on attendance, there may be a point where we’ll need to shift to reserving pool time.”
The club meets every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 8-10 p.m.
