Practice was coming to a close, but not before Kirk Ziemke, second-year head coach, briefed his swimmers on what their final task of the day was: a sprint swim, giving everything they had after a 6 a.m. morning lift and two-mile run, a whole day of school and a 6,750-yard swim.

“Swimming is a training sport, so that’s what we do,” said Ziemke. “We train [our athletes] like horses, like thoroughbreds.”

Before the arrival of Ziemke, senior Mark Schneider said there was one thing missing from the team: athleticism.

“We all developed a mindset that our coach taught us that we’re all great swimmers, but if we become great athletes, we’ll be even better swimmers,” said Schneider. “Everyone has been trying to improve, whether it is running or hitting the weights, so all around we are much better athletes than last year.”

As a former swimmer at Michigan State University, Ziemke said he admits swimmers are “notoriously uncoordinated,” and when he first started, he was not a great swimmer, but a good athlete.

“[Swimmers are] basically fish out of water when you get them out of the pool,” said Ziemke. “As I got into coaching, I said, ‘Give me these kids that are great athletes, and I’ll make them into great swimmers.’”

Senior Andy Cooke, a four-year varsity diver, said he predicted his freshman year there would be high hopes for the team come his senior year.

“I think [when we were freshmen] there were six kids our age on varsity, so we knew we were going to have a lot of depth, and we knew we were going to be pretty competitive compared to previous years because of the talent we had just in our year,” Cooke said.

Schneider said going into last year, the team was not ready for the season due to the lack of some teammates’ attendance at fall workouts.

“[This year], everyone has been really hitting the weight room and the pool in order to get ready for high school season so that way when we come in, … we’re ready to go,” Schneider said.

With about 20 seniors on the team, Ziemke said he lays the groundwork for how he wants his program to be run and lets his seniors do the rest.

“[As a head coach], you put the expectations of what you need to get done out there, … and your seniors, your leaders on the team, they buy into it, and if everyone is doing what they’re supposed to be doing … you’re going to see what solid role models [the seniors] can be,” Ziemke said.

According to Ziemke, regardless of how old any of his swimmers are, as long as they work within the program they will move up the ladder toward success.

“[Let’s say] you’re a senior and I’m a sophomore and I’m hungrier than you or more competitive than you, and I’m really going to buckle down and commit to the sport of swimming, then I’m going to beat you,” said Ziemke. “Our expectation is to A, train, and B, compete. Everything will fall into place then whether [the team] is all seniors or all freshmen.”

According to Ziemke, another core principle to his program is unity. It is something Schneider said was lost during his  freshman and sophomore years.

“The seniors when we were freshmen were not good leaders, … so what we’re doing is the opposite, and we’re trying to make sure the freshmen and underclassmen are really pumped up and are ready to go when we are gone,” Schneider said.

Freshman Jake Shapiro said the seniors are all very supportive, and it is comforting to know someone always has his back.

“When we do a very hard set … halfway through, I want to give up,” said Shapiro. “But right next to me I hear one of my senior teammates pumping me up and encouraging me to finish the set.”

Schneider said that before Ziemke took over, people on the team would just sit around when others were in the middle of a race.

“Now, no matter what it is, … all 60 plus of us are on the sideline of the pool cheering each other on,” Schneider said.

Cooke said the seniors understand this is their time to fulfill the goals they have set for themselves, and they are “going to leave it all on the line.” Everything they put into those early mornings and late nights will all be left in the pool by the season’s end.

Ziemke said he believes if his swimmers put in all the necessary work, some of them can be All-American and state qualifiers by the end of the season.

“I don’t want my kids’ last tastes of swimming to be of disappointment,” said Ziemke. “I want it to be of elation. I want them to feel that all the training was worth it.”