In her second year as the head coach of Milton High School swimming team, Daisy Eddins wants to continue to build the program using the knowledge of the experienced swimmers on the team of nearly 20 students.
“We have several seniors that will graduate this year, but I have a higher concentration of juniors,” Eddins said. “So, we are always building towards the future.”
Many of the participants on the swimming team, consisting of boys and girls, are closing in on their best times from last season, Eddins said.
“The 2014-2015 swim season was my first season with the MHS and each swimmer gave their best at each practice and meet,” Eddins said in an email. “Each swimmer set a new personal best record in their strokes by the time of our last meet.”
Regardless of how long each member has been on the team, Eddins is expecting “top performance” from each students regardless of how long they have been on the team.
“I would like to see them improve in the execution of their strokes, starts and turns,” Eddins said. “When each swimmer focuses on these three areas great things will happen.”
Eddins said several seniors are looking to make strides this season.
“We have several seniors who are striving to make this a personal best year, Lauren Beniot is one such senior who shows leadership in and out of the pool,” she said. “Senior Mark Gartner…is working to make this one of his fastest years. Andrew Ruffini is another senior who is set to have a breakthrough season.”
Eddins is also expecting strong performances from freshmen, sophomore and junior swimmers this season.
Jacob Chambers is also credited for showing leadership with his involvement with the Greater Pensacola Aquatics Club.
“He is a great asset to our team in many ways, of course with his strong strokes and speed in the pool but also in his leadership in helping teammates understand competitive swimming,” Eddins said.
The team regularly practices at the Santa RosaChristianSchool’s swimming pool, which Eddins is quite thankful for.
“We are able to get to the pool quickly and not lose valuable training time,” Eddins said. “Thanks to the great planning of Tod Brainard (head of school) and Sheree Trammell (aquatics director) at the Santa RosaChristianSchool; a partnership was formed with GPAC and the school's pool is a summer swim club in the GPAC program which influences the talent for MHS to draw from each year.”
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Coach shares insight in Panther swimming season