Evanston girls swimming’s biggest success of the season came early on, when it beat Barrington 103-83: a win not seen in more than five years. 

That day, first-place finishes were logged by senior co-captain Lily Consligio in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly, junior Amanda Nelson in the 100-yard backstroke and senior co-captain Annika Macy in the 100-yard breaststroke. However, head coach Kevin Auger credits the team’s extensiveness with regard to what propelled the Kits toward that win.   

“[Barrington] didn’t have the depth, while we had the second, third and fourth swimmers; they had the number ones,” Auger said. “And, you know, that just shows you what kind of team we have. We’ve worked in swimming as a team and can celebrate it as a team.”

Sophomore varsity swimmer Riley Romisher further explained that, while swimming is mostly an individual sport, team dynamics can often make or break a swimmer’s performance. Coming out of a season of virtual meets and fewer practices, this camaraderie was especially essential to the Kits’ win at Barrington. 

“Being able to cheer for your teammates in-person and race against the other team in the same pool helped motivate us to swim faster,” Romisher says. “To win a meet that has normally been loss was a very positive and meaningful experience; it helped motivate us and helped us begin to look forward to other meets.”

Although they triumphed against a team that historically beats them out with Barrington, the Kits fell short to Loyola, 95-75, in their first meet of the season—a contest that Evanston has historically won. Since then, the Wildkits have retained a record of 6-1 with additional wins against Niles North, Deerfield, Maine South, Niles West and Glenbrook South.

Going forward, the Kits hope to build upon their earlier successes by providing new varsity swimmers more of a chance to compete for the team. Last season, the varsity team was almost completely made up of Class of ‘21 seniors, so, this year, underclassmen have a unique opportunity to become more of a force in the program.

“There’s a lot of kids that are going to get opportunities that they didn’t otherwise have with those seniors [there],” Auger affirms. “And I feel like they’re going to seize that moment, and we’re going to be successful as a result.”

As the girls swim team continues to come together and recover from a season amid a pandemic, considering there are only three dual meets left on the schedule, their hard work has already paid off in the most rewarding way: a winning record.