Junior Evan Diamente has been in the water since he was five years old. Like most athletes, swimming takes up most of one’s social and personal life. Between early morning swims and long meets, the strokes truly never stop.  Take a glimpse at what it’s like to look through the goggles of a swimmer…

What made you get into swimming?

     Competitively, I learned [to swim]  at 5. It was the only thing I was good at.  My parents were like ‘Oh shoot, he’s faster than everyone else. Let’s put him on the swim team’. [Once] you start swimming, you’ll always having this favorite stroke or a stroke you’re good at and that’s what you have to pursue. I like butterfly and

freestyle. I swim the 50 free, 100 fly, 200 free relay, and 400 free relay. My favorite is probably either the 50 free or 100 fly. I’m closer to the school record in the 50 free. I about 0.3 away from the record. It’s really hard to lose time.

What was a significant memory you have from swimming?

     When I was a freshman I really looked up to Justin Ogle. He took me under his wing and always helped and coached me in practice. [That year] we had a relay on senior night against the seniors in the 200 meter relay and ended up beating them. It all came down to me because I was the last swimmer for the freshmen. It was close, but I beat him and we won. We were all pretty happy that we beat the seniors.

What are some of the traditions the swim team has?

     The entire team travels together in the summer to train. We have been to California, Georgia and Florida. Also, once or twice during the season we will all go to Bubs in Carmel. We all order the ‘Big Ugly’ and we all try to finish it. The boys team [also] gets together and we all watch the first 45 minutes of the movie “Full Metal Jacket”. I’m not sure why we only watch the first 45 minutes or when the tradition even started. It started way before I was a freshman.

What kinds of equipment is used in swimming?

     There are different kinds of suits. For guys, there are jammers which are regular suits that goes down just above your knees and you just wear it for practices only. Then there’s a speedo which are actually called briefs and usually you wear it for practice. Then there is a fast skin. A fast skin is a two hundred to four hundred dollar suits that are really nice and you would only wear those for championship meets. They make you go faster in the water because of its water resistancy, but because of the material it wears out super fast. You’d never practice in a fast skin and you could only wear one for about 3 to 4 meets. So for girls, they basically wear a one piece for practice and meets. For championship meets, they wear knee skins. Knee skins are basically fast skins for girls.

     There are four kinds of caps. Latex, silicon, and one that is a combination of the first two caps. Then there is your highest grade cap, which is the dome cap. A normal person in a championship meet has shaved legs, a fast skin on, fast skin goggles and a dome cap.

How would you describe the hardships and work that goes into swimming?

     I wake up at 4:30 to leave my house at 5 o’clock. Morning practice starts at 5:30 and then practice ends at 6:50. We then get ready for school and go through our normal school day. After school we have practice from 3 to 5. We have morning practice three days a week. It’s hard, but its like brushing your teeth. It is like your normal routine.

It’s taught me work ethic, time management, and leadership. Sometimes it can be a lot, and I feel like a prisoner. Motivation is sometimes not there because it’s so time consuming and controls my life. I feel like if I wasn’t swimming, I would have better grades because I could focus on school more. But overall I wouldn’t say I regret it because I’ve made so many friends and it has been such a good experience for me. It’s helped me grow as a person.