By Courtney Russo – News Editor

The Jonathan Law girls swim and dive team is ready for the upcoming season. 

This year’s captains are seniors Ella Franzman, Paige Kantor and and Natalia Gagliardi.

“I feel like this season is different from last years because we have a ton of new girls joining the team and a lot of talent that I know is going to be super beneficial to our team,” Franzman said. 

The team lost four seniors from last year but have welcomed in six new freshmen.

“Something I’ve been trying to prioritize is making the freshmen feel welcome and part of the team by being someone they can go to outside of practice and finding moments to  become better friends with them when I see them as school and not just on the pool deck,” junior Kayla Markowitz said.

The team can be described as motivated, outgoing, and confident heading into the season. They are especially looking forward to this year’s Lion Heart Lapathon which raises money for cancer research. 

“The Lapathon last year was to raise money for breast cancer,” sophomore Aislyn McKernan said, “It’s called Lion Heart and Law and Foran swam together. We each got two lanes and we would swim together in groups.”

Last year, the team won against Foran by two points and the meet came down to one 400 freestyle relay.

The team’s goals this year are to keep their competitive attitude up and improve with each meet. 

“I’m really optimistic about this year,” Assistant Coach Mr. Lui said. “We have a great group of girls, including some promising new swimmers and divers who are already showing a lot of potential. I expect that we’ll be competitive, and our goal is to continue improving with each meet. The team’s energy and focus have been great so far, so I’m excited to see how everything will come together as the season progresses.”

The team has already grown immensely and plans to continue their hard work.

“As a team, the swimmers and divers have become more advanced, and as the season goes on we will continue to progress,” sophomore August Olivera said, “ Our team has always been centered on teamwork, supporting one another, and even though swimming is an individual sport we function as a family.”