This season, one of the main goals for the boys swim team has been integrating first-time members of the sport into the community and preparing them for meets, according to senior Will Hambuchen.  

For him, an aspiration for the team early on was to get the new swimmers “to the point where they can definitely feel more comfortable competing at some of the larger events,” he said. 

Junior and co-captain, Keenan Geyer, remarked that his favorite aspect of the sport is the camaraderie.

“It’s really nice to have a bunch of teammates that are rooting for you,” he said. “It’s really fun to root for your teammates.”

Even in competition, this attitude extends between teams. “After two people finish neck and neck, they’ll give each other a first bump,” Hambuchen said. “If somebody’s taking a long time to finish one of the longer events, and they’re clearly working super hard, everyone’s cheering.” 

On Feb. 13, Parkrose High School will be hosting districts. This year, Hambuchen said that the competition might pose more of a challenge for the Falcons, as several teams have recently stepped down from the 6A league, giving them more of an advantage due to their larger rosters. 

Despite the daunting challenge, the boys are continuing to put in hard work in training. 

“There’s recently been a bit of a step up in the technical elements of some practice stuff, and the practices get more challenging throughout the years so we’re definitely moving into the harder bits of it,” Hambuchen said. 

Following districts, the team hopes to move on to state.

“Everyone’s doing really well. Everyone’s trying their hardest, improving the best they can,” Geyer said. 

On Friday, Jan. 31, in their meet against Wilsonville High School and Rex Putnam High School, the swim team celebrated their Senior Night.

“They usually do pretty fast on their last race,” he said. “That’s always fun to see.” 

Going into districts, the new members of the team are up for more of a challenge since the stakes will be the highest they have seen so far. “It’s going to be a lot of people’s first time, it’s a full day event, and it can definitely take it out of you,” Hambuchen said. “It’s structured differently from a lot of the other events because it’s so long.” 

As the season comes to a close, Hambuchen notes that the community will be what he misses the most. 

“I am going to miss the people,” he said. “And the chance to be able to swim.”