With the main swim season coming to an end, Shorewood’s girls swim & dive team has been having a splashingly good 2025 season so far. This year, the team has four senior captains: Addy Falkin, Elana Bronsther, Natalia Martin, and Vivian Foral.
They became captains at the end of last season, when they were voted for by their teammates. Typically, they only have three, but due to a tie, they have four this season.
As captains, the four of them have plenty of duties. Their main responsibilities, according to Foral, is to unite the team and make sure everyone feels included and important. But that’s not all. “We plan fun games on Fridays, we pick people for awards after each meet- who had the best swim and who had the most spirit,” said Bronsther, “And we make sure that people are wearing their gear.”
Not only do they take care of the fun parts, but they also handle logistics, including making sure swimmers have rides to practice/meets, choosing swimsuits and sweatshirts, and spreading news about the team’s events. “As a captain, I also do a lot of social media and awareness, and planning fundraisers, like the Chipotle fundraiser, which was super duper successful- that’s money for our team shirts,” said Martin.
So far, the team has had a fairly successful season, and moved onto state. “We have postseason now and that’s gonna be a real fun experience because that’s my favorite part,” said Falkin, “It’s been so fun to be a part of the team. Our coach is really awesome; he gets us all excited to be there.”
The seniors, having each spent four years on the team, had plenty of highlights from their time in the community. Martin’s favorite part of the year? “Honestly, I love the spaghetti dinner before JV Champs. It’s super fun- everyone can get together and just eat so much pasta… It’s fun to see everybody together,” Martin said.
There are plenty of benefits to being a captain on Shorewood’s swim and dive team, but Bronsther has one takeaway that’s been true of all her four years. “My favorite part of the team in general is meeting everyone – I feel like people who do swim are just such nice people. I’ve met people who I wouldn’t have talked to before, and everyone’s super sweet,” she said.
