Team Players

With no seventh-period class ahead of her -- finally liberated from the confines of notes, tests and pencil sharpeners -- Michelle Yee was free to jet over to the Desert Breeze Community Center Aquatic Facility for her daily 1 1/2-hour practice. While most of her friends scurried off to jobs or took catnaps before going home to work on their heaps of homework, Yee dove headfirst into the water to brush up on her diving and backstroke skills.

Sierra Vista High School's girls' swim captain for the current season, Yee has been part of the swimming community since she was 8 years old.

"This might sound so cliche, but swimming to me has always been associated with bonding," she said. "I just automatically get that feeling when I am around swimmers -- that there lies such a great support group."

The closeness Michelle Yee feels from the sport might have something to do with the fact that her sister Helen, a sophomore, got involved with it around the time Michelle did, starting when she was 6. Helen Yee said the "great friends and groups of people" she has met are what make her love the sport.

"My sister swam for Palo Verde when she went there as a freshman, and I saw then and definitely see now, being a part of the team, what a better group of people we have here," Helen Yee said.

The team's coach, math teacher Kehaulani Strekow, had coached in California and sees the differences between the schools there and a newer program like Sierra Vista's.

"Our program is really growing into a sport and becoming more unified," she said.

To kick off the season, Strekow and the men's coach, English teacher David Jurvelin, held their first practice in late February, with 40 kids showing up. Tryouts followed in a few days, and all 40 students made the team.

For students who -- unlike the Yee sisters -- haven't been swimming since they were little, a lot of preparation is required.

"As coaches, myself and Mrs. Strekow have been meeting since the beginning of the year to add and come up with more clinics and practices Sierra Vista students can become a part of," Jurvelin said. "We really encourage as many students as possible to take advantage of the opportunities they come across and we provide for them, as most of them are year-round, while swimming is not always."

Training opportunities such as the Panther clinic are especially good tools for swimmers in a sport that provides numerous answers to the question of how long it takes to prepare for a match.

Michelle Yee's years of experience mean she requires little or no time to prepare. Before a meet, she said, a "minute to psyche up will do fine." She admitted, however, that a good 45-minute workout will do her more good than harm.

Helen Yee, who like her sister is "not big with practices," likewise admits there is a significant payoff for those willing to apply themselves.

Others, like sophomore Matt Rosenfeld, feel a good two weeks of solid training, two days of hard-core commitment and one hour before a big match like a state competition work best.

"This year I especially hope to make state, so all the practice I can get right now will help," he said.

Just as the classrooms, hallways and quads of Sierra Vista High School are the sisters' home during the average school day, Desert Breeze is their (and their team's) second home most afternoons and weekends as spring continues.

Desert Breeze lifeguard manager Istvan Taksen regularly is present during Sierra Vista's meets and practices and sees the benefits to the team members.

"The swimmers I see, such as the Yee sisters, that come from all different schools, are doing something really great by being a part of the team," he said. "It is such a great way to keep in shape."

But the Yee sisters said they enjoy the sport for reasons beyond the physical workout.

"I really enjoy all the competition swimming brings out in me and others," Helen Yee said. "When I am out in the water, it feels so good to race, and hopefully break my time and score higher."

"Being such a recreational activity, I love that swimming is such a great sport to use to keep in shape," Michelle Yee said.

The team -- which Jurvelin feels will "surprise a lot of people" -- hopes to finish well at regionals.

Though Strekow hopes to "really step up the game for the team," she realizes that a student can get much more out of swimming than just bettering their own time and standing in a competition.

"Swimming works so well for so many because it is all about building a good person and not just an athlete," she said. "It is not about winning, but getting better each time and feeling like you have really accomplished something."

Entering her last season with the team, Michelle Yee looked back at her swim career at Sierra Vista and agreed with Strekow.

"Swimming with this school has really hit home the message of student first and athlete second, because winning can come later," she said. "For now it is all about enjoying one's time at the pool."