Photo credit: Kate Rheinheimer

Maya Cerbo (’28) practices a relay dive during swim practice. The Varsity swim team holds practices at Steven S. Wise pool every Tuesday and Thursday.

While most of the Archer community is still sleeping, the varsity swim team conditions and drills during their 6-7:30 a.m. practices.

The varsity swim team is made up of 14 upper school students. Practices take place at the Stephen S. Wise pool on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school and UCLA on Monday and Wednesday mornings. Since swimmers can choose which practices to attend, there is a much lower attendance at the morning practices, coach Wilma Wong said.

According to a study from the National Library of Medicine, morning practices allow athletes’ brains to be more efficient throughout the day. Exercise is found to stimulate the release of a chemical, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which plays a key role in neuronal plasticity, and is essential for learning and memory retention. 

Although morning exercise is shown to increase brain function, the need for adequate hours of sleep for adolescents may override these benefits. Second year varsity swimmer Katie Ray McKillop (’27) said the lack of sleep can be a barrier to feeling the mental benefits from morning exercise.

“Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes it’s not hard. Today, I’m absolutely exhausted. I just feel like I want to take a nap right this second… it’s hard to pay attention in class.” McKillop said, after coming to school from morning practice. “Studies show that it’s actually better for your focus and attention. But personally, I think I’m the exception to that rule.”

Early practices can be a difficult adjustment for some swimmers who need to alter their bedtime schedules to get an adequate amount of sleep. Freshman Mia Akkaraju said she aims to get 10 hours of sleep every night.

“I’ve been going to bed much earlier when I know that I have a morning practice. I usually go to bed from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. depending on how much homework I have,” Akkaraju said. “When I’m not in swim season, I’m going to bed much later.”

According to the Center for Disease Control, 71% to 84% of teenagers do not get the recommended amount of sleep for proper development, which is eight hours. Unlike Akkaraju, some Archer swimmers are not able to change their routines due to their workload or other extracurricular activities. 

“I try to go to bed at 10 when I have practice at six the next morning, so I can get enough sleep,” Mckillop said. “It’s hard because I still have the same amount of homework.”

Despite the difficulty of getting up at an early hour, senior Shayaan Gandhi said she appreciates having more time before school starts at 8:20 a.m., as the swim team bus arrives at Archer around 8 a.m..

“I think it’s nice to have longer [time] before I start school,” Gandhi said. “I have more time to prepare myself for everything, and I have more time to do homework.”

An early wake-up time allows for more free time in the morning, and Akkaraju said it may even improve her focus at school.

“Once I kind of know the rhythm, it can be very beneficial to my learning because it’s almost calming,” Akkaraju said. “ I come to school, I’ve worked out, and I’m ready to work on other things and jump into other things because my workout is done. I don’t feel restless.”

A change that Wong implemented this season is to place more emphasis on swim technique rather than speed. In addition to using resistance bands on dry land for warm-ups, Wong implements the bands in the pool, as well as ankle and wrist weights, flippers and foam blocks. She said these new tools help with each athlete’s alignment and positioning, requiring more mental engagement.

“If you’re working on technique, it’s very much a mental exercise. It’s harder than swimming a lot of yards. Sometimes in the morning, it’s going to be easier, because you’re fresher, your brain is fresher,” Wong said. ”After school, they’re tired just from being at school all day. So I’m asking them to use their brains in a different way.”

Although practices can be mentally challenging, according to the swimmers, Akkaraju describes the team as close-knit. Gandhi said it feels very calm and mellow because everyone is in the water.

Due to the increased mental and emotional difficulty of early morning practices, Wong recently decided to create a supportive end-of-practice activity. She hopes it will support them emotionally and help develop each swimmer’s self-confidence.

“Emotionally it is hard for them. It’s cold, they’re tired, and so we always end practice with asking everybody what they did well,” Wong said. “It’s part of building self-image. I think, a lot of times, teachers and coaches spend so much time correcting all the things that are not going well. So, as swim coaches, we are training our kids to look at things that are more positive rather than negative. It’s hard to do because I think we are, as a society, trained to look at what’s wrong instead of what’s right.”

Some swimmers feel the exercise is a bonding experience. Akkaraju said it helps them to reflect on their growth as an athlete.

“It makes me feel good. I think it’s a really nice way to end the practice as we’re all together. Practice can be really challenging, but, at the end, when you’re all together and say something that you did well, it can be a really nice way to finish and feel grateful,” Akkaraju said. “Because swimming is an individual sport and you’re racing against yourself, to be all together reminds you that you’re on a team, and you’re all working together for Archer.”