As the Blake Girls’ Swimming and Diving team dives into the water, Providence and Blake swimmers both sport the same swimcap. Despite their separation during their days at school, the team is incredibly unified in the pool. 

Grace Ersfeld-O’Brien ‘22, Blake student and team member of 2 years, says, “Just with the amount of time, commitment, and energy that we put into swimming; [my teammates] are still a part of my day to day life, so it definitely feels like we are operating under the same team.” 

Swimming requires great discipline, aided by a strong team. Ersfeld-Obrien shares, “Supporting each other through those [hard training sessions], you forget very easily that you’re not going to the same school.”

Blake Captain Alice Jin ‘20 agrees, “Just being in the swimming environment allows people to bond because…we get to bond over how hard the sets are.” 

And being from different institution yet similar school structure allows teammates to “[sympathize],” according to Jin.

Although, “Providence [students] are more likely to drop out of swimming than Blake [students] because it is not directly at Providence.” Geographical separation produces difficulty. Though, the swim team endures. 

Providence Captain Angelina Hartley ‘20 shares that although “Blake/Providence swimmers have different experiences from school, but instead of this separating us, we all share and relate to each other.” 

A perceived problem results in a positive outcome as, “ people from different schools [add] a new energy to the team. They are constantly cheering and saying good job to other swimmers.”

This season, Ersfeld-O’Brien shares they hope that their,“400 Free relay to finish[es] in the Top 8 at State. We also want to send all of our Varsity swimming to state [individually].”