Interview with NHS Swim and Dive Coach, Olivia Allen
Anthony Randolph
Northfield girls' swim team competing at a meet. All images courtesy of Jen Trygestaad and Lucy Lavonas.
The girls’ swim season is up and running this winter with a couple big changes. First, the former assistant coach, Ms. Olivia Allen is now the head coach of the swim & dive team. She is also a Freshman English Teacher and Honors Debate Teacher at Northfield High School. Second, the swim & dive team has transitioned from 3A competitions to 5A, which is a big jump but provides a lot of room for success and development.
This week I emailed Coach Allen asking a few questions about the season and how it has gone for her and the team so far. The first question was simple… How has the season gone for her and the team so far? (Image left: Parker Ghede).
Her response began with her side of the season, and she explained, “It has been an exciting challenge to go from the assistant coach to the head coaching role. I have had a lot of support from the families and other coaches that I am very grateful for“. Coach Allen is off to a great start as coach–helping a lot with development of swimmers and always making sure they are having fun. On the team itself, she explained that the bump to 5A has been a challenge but the team has worked hard at each and every practice and meet. They have already had success–qualifying for state in 2 of 3 relays, and are looking forward to a potential third. At the meet on Wednesday, January 22, the team had its final dual meet of the season against Rangeview High School and pulled off the win, with a school record even set at that race. This record was the school 500 now held by Nora Tryggestad at 5:48.26. Great job to all of them, keep it up! (Image right: from left to right Lucy Lavonas, Taylor Hart, Molly Hubbard cheer on Danny Castellon).
My next question was on the steps the team has taken towards improvement and success. Ms. Allen responded by telling me about the team's work in goal setting and taking consistent steps to reach those goals along with their culture development as a team to increase success and a healthy team environment. At practices the team works to develop different strokes and aspects of swimming and diving.
The team is looking forward to a few more meets to end the season, including B league and A league: a two day meet where they will look to secure a third relay qualifier for states. They also have preliminaries on January 31 at 5:00 pm and finals are February 1 at 2:00 pm. For more information on meets find the team schedule here, or go by Ms. Allens classroom in the English hallway of building 5. (Image left: From left to right Caitlyn Wesoky, Hope Okamura, Abigail Hermes. In the water Savannah Mahoney).
The team has been doing a great job, especially for their first year in 5A. And along with that, Coach Allen has been great for the team during her first year as the head coach. Let’s support them as they finish strong, especially the senior swimmers. Great job Northfield! (Image right: Caitlyn Wesoky).
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