Assistant Coach Tom Schweer has brought a new level of expectation and intensity that is resulting in a payoff for the program. From the Illinois Swimming Association Hall of Fame, to the Metea Valley athletic halls, Assistant Coach Schweer has been given nothing but praise for his part in the swim program’s success. “It’s more intense and more focused with Coach Schweer here,” sophomore swimmer Jacquelyn Kurkjian said.

The team is off to a progressive start, which is in great part due to the level of work that is preached by Coach Schweer. “He [Assistant Coach Schweer] has got a method… and it’s absolutely working,” said sophomore swimmer Maddie Sandberg. The high expectations set by Schweer and the rest of the coaching staff have forced the team to amp up the intensity.

This isn’t a coach that has no experience in the water, and this isn’t exactly his first time “getting his feet wet” so to speak. Schweer, being a state qualifier as a senior at Glenbrook North in 1975, is fully trusted, as seen by the readiness with which these swimmers apply what he preaches.

Although the team has been off to a slow start, the team is seeing improvement in the pool, even if it has not yet been displayed by their record. “We’re all so close to achieving our goals,” said Sandberg. It’s a process and the team is taking it one step at a time, and is taking noticeable strides toward improvement.

With such high standards, the team has nowhere to go but up, and the expectation is to rise up. This has put a large sum of work into their season, with Schweer’s and the rest of the coaching staff’s work ethic at the forefront, and the results are beginning to surface. “It’s getting there, we may not have it yet, but it’s getting there,” said Kurkjian.

By Turner Smith