The last year affected high school sports across the country. Games on the field, on the court and on the ice were postponed, rescheduled or cancelled. The pool, too, was not immune to the effects of the virus.

The girls swim team at Our Lady of Lourdes High School is grateful to nearby Beacon High School. The latter opened its pool to swimmers from four Dutchess County high schools while many schools and colleges closed pools to outsiders.

“From the bottom of my heart thank you very much” [for saving the season], said Lourdes senior swimmer Katie Thorn about Beacon’s coaches and school officials. “I don’t think they understand how much it meant to us to swim again. The swim team is like a family.”

Girls swimming is a fall sport in New York. The season was moved to March as schedules were juggled due to the pandemic. Lourdes competes in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. The team was permitted 90 minutes for practices or meets six days per week at the public high school. Quarantine for an extended period always was a concern but the team avoided this obstacle.

The six days in the water provided the girls with some sense of normalcy during this unusual time. While the Warriors lost the first four meets, the team completed the dual-meet season with a 4-6 record.

All dual and invitational swimming meets were conducted virtually. Masks were worn until swimmers were on the starting blocks. Swimmers competed in their home pools with times entered into a computer system to determine individual and team winners. The season allowed four Lourdes swimmers to qualify for individual events and the Lourdes relays at the Section 1 championships.

“It was an odd season,” concluded one-time Lourdes swimmer and third-year head coach Tom Bubel. A very common statement during an unusual year that has been repeated thousands of times nationwide by athletes, parents, coaches and officials.

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