Junior Travis Scott (11) has dedicated much of his time at GHHS to his involvement with the Boys Swim and Dive team. High school was not the start of Scott’s swim experience, as prior to GHHS swim, he participated in club swimming, a competitive swimming program in which you race against students whose ability is well matched to your own. Working hard has never been a stranger to Scott, given how even as a kid he trained for these events, his work early on only solidifying his drive and self-discipline for the team sports to come. Scott has been a part of multiple club teams from a young age, but the real interest in swimming came in his early middle school years. “7th-8th grade is when I started taking it more seriously, trying to get better at it, wanting to get better at it,” said Scott.
From early years on, the commitment only strengthened with time. Scott stated that his favorite thing about swim and dive is being with his teammates, working hard, and having fun at practices. For Boys Swim and Dive, practices are a full-time job. “It’s very much a grind; you have to work hard. I have to improve myself to improve the team,” said Scott. The swim team is at the school pool every day, six days a week, sans Sundays. Swim season started in mid-November, and from then until February 20, the team is training non-stop for meets.
Competitions can be intense, and for Scott, it is grounding to have a routine that helps him get into a calmer, more prepared state of mind. In the tradition of athlete pre-meet rituals, Scott has a few of his own. “I always have the same snack every day before practices and meets. A honey waffle, some goldish, and a sandwich. An hour and a half before, I always drink Gatorade,” said Scott. When any form of physical exertion is applied, fuel is everything, and swimming in particular demands constant and intense movement. Food isn’t the only ritual in Scott’s competition agenda; the second element is all about mindset. Scott describes his process as getting himself into the right headspace, which for him looks like not talking to anyone, a practice that gives him space to visualize his race and lock into the moment. Having a feeling of structure when approaching high-stress environments is a universal necessity, and in competitive sports, the pressure is on.
While his pre-meet preparation is a more individual process, the season of boy’s swim is carried by the team’s combined talent, and the year so far has been dominated by their victories. Scott expresses a highlight of the season being the swimvitational meet, which he and his team had the opportunity to compete in and which they won as a product of their collective commitment. Scott described his team’s victory in setting two state qualifying times for the medley relay and four hundred relay. These events, which took place on Saturday, January 18, were proud moments for Scott and the GHHS boys swim team. Boys Swim and Dive winning the mid-season swim invite is a promise of great things to come for the team and many future successes.
Scott’s future in swimming is a promising prospect, a future that he leans into going forward next year as a senior, and the years following, whatever they might look like. Swimming is a passion Scott plans to continue pursuing with the next steps he takes into the future. A part of his life he drives pride and enjoyment from, Scott expressed being very interested in continuing to swim in college. Where that college will be, he is not yet sure, but one thing to be sure of is the host of opportunities ahead in the athletic world should his drive take him there.