No “I” in Team for Minnesota State’s Swim and Dive

The Minnesota State University Mankato’s Swimming and Diving Team doesn’t let individual competition break their bond.

When thinking about sports, sometimes people forget there isn’t just competition between schools, but also among teammates.

However, that doesn’t stop the Mankato Swim and Dive team from showing up for one another and being each other’s biggest supporters.

In an interview with the team’s Head Coach, Nathan Owens, and teammates, Abby Gronholz and Aspen Warnygora, they shared a little about what it means to be a teammate for Mankato Swim and Dive.

“At the end of the day, the big picture is the team score,” says Warnygora. “If one of us gets second at the end of the day, that’s still a win for everyone.”

In many cases, an individual’s teammates can be their biggest competitors. It can be difficult to suppress personal disappointment and be happy for another’s success. In this aspect, however, the Mankato team sets themselves apart.

“I feel like there’s never been an issue amongst teammates with that like a lot of us swim a lot of the same events. I think we’re more just generally happy for that person, and if some person gets first and some person gets second, that’s like, a lot of points for the team,” says Gronholz.

Owens, Warnygora and Gronholz also explained that the team culture shines at meets. Competitors and spectators can see the bond between the teammates.

“I think we always joke about how we’re one of the teams that has the most fun on the pool deck,” says Warnygora. “That’s something, I think, that sets us apart because I think when we’re all having fun, we tend to be more successful as a whole.”

The team does a lot to maintain their bond with each other. They spend a lot of time together in their personal lives, extending their friendships with one another beyond the pool deck.

“I think we do a lot of team bonding events, whether that’s team dinners or just little fun game nights or movie nights with the team,” says Warnygora. “We do a lot of baseball or basketball games,” Gronholz adds. “I think we also just kind of generally live with one another. So it’s like those bonds come and meet at a practice, it just kind of spreads.”

Another aspect of being a good team is hyping each other up, and Mankato Swim and Dive are no exception.

As an athlete, being able to rely on your teammates to lift you up is important. When asked about helping nervous teammates, Warnygora shared she tries to remind everyone to trust their training.

“I think I’m more on the end of, you’ve done this. You know, you’ve done these dives hundreds of times,” says Warnygora. “I’ll talk to them about, you know, trusting their training, trusting their body.”

Furthermore, Gronholz added that she tries to remind everyone that meets are supposed to be fun regardless of the outcome.

“It’s just one race. There’s going to be like 100 others we do this season, like, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that earth-shattering,” says Gronholz.

Spectators can witness the team’s unique bond at their next home meet on Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. at Highland Pool.

Photo caption: The Minnesota State Mankato Swim and Dive team say they aren’t jealous of each others successes. They attribute their close bond to spending lots of time together outside of the pool and practices. (Joe Venables/The Reporter)

Write to emma.benjamin@mnsu.edu