Last Friday, Girl’s swim and dive took place at the University of Minnesota’s pool, Jean K. Freeman. With only one swimmer representing the Sparks team. This was senior Adele Gjerde’s first time competing at state. Swimming the 100-yard butterfly. This meet was jam-packed. With over eighteen teams present. Adele Gjerde, who was seeded last, came out finishing twenty-first out of twenty-two swimmers. Finishing with a time of 1:03:89. “I didn’t execute it exactly how I wanted but I had lots of fun” said Gjerde. “I was just happy to be there […] and it was cool to be surrounded by these insanely fast swimmers,”
At the state pool there was an opportunity to warm up while other races were going on. Which isn’t typically offered for other meets during the season. This allowed for the pool deck to be less crowded. “I thought the atmosphere was more chill than other meets” said Gjerde.
Only swimming one race helped with the pressure and gave Gjerde more time to prepare both mentally and physically. “I went into the meet just wanting to have fun and after the race, I’m happy that I met that goal”
Gjerde talks about how she feels about this meet being her final swim meet for high school, “I’m happy that the season is over, I’m really grateful for it, and for those who supported me, I had a really fun and awesome season and I’m just really happy with my outcome.”
