URBANA — The Uni girls swim team has always focused on fun and self-improvement. With emphasis on team bonding and having an enjoyable experience overall, winning, to them, is just icing on the cake.

“Meets are mostly about your race,” said senior captain Maritza Mestre. “But it’s also about the teammates and the fun.”

With the 2009 season set to begin Saturday at Stanford Olympia, here's a look at what Uni swim fans can expect from this year's squad.

From Killer Whales to Anemones

Sian Best is one of Uni's four senior captains this year. The others are Erika Belmont, Diana Liu, and Maritza Mestre. Gargoyle photos by Revathi Maturi (click to enlarge)

Erika Belmont is competing in her fourth season for Uni, as are fellow captains Best, Liu, and Mestre. (click to enlarge)

"I don't do swimming for the competition," says Maritza Mestre. "I do it for the team and the atmosphere." (click to enlarge)

Last year, the team ended a successful season by taking fifth place at the IHSA sectionals, with Lisa Boyce and Milee Nelson qualifying for the state meet.

Boyce, then a junior, went on to place fifth in the 100-yard backstroke (56.56 seconds) and 11th in the 100 freestyle (52.97), the best overall performance at state by any swimmer from the Champaign-Urbana area. Nelson finished 35th in the 500 free (5:28.10).

However, Boyce, along with '09 graduates Deborah Ladd, Natsuki Nakamura, and Lor Sligar, will not be returning to Uni swimming this year. Instead, she is swimming with a club team as she concentrates on competing at the national level.

Fortunately, the team also gained several new swimmers this year, and head coach Howie Schein has high hopes.

“All Uni swimmers have potential,” he said. “We work toward helping each swimmer work toward her potential.”

Last year, the team swam as the Killer Whales, but this season they will be representing Uni as the Anemones, inspired by the movie "Finding Nemo."

“Our coach always teases us like, ‘You guys have to know how to say it right in order to actually be it!’” joked Mestre.

This kind of lighthearted atmosphere is also prevalent during their morning practices.

"Our workout today was essentially an obstacle course all throughout the pool," said Mestre. "And our coach squirted us with a water gun to make us get in the water faster at the start of practice."

Mestre is one of four senior captains — an honor that goes to swimmers who are in their fourth year on the team. The other captains are Erika Belmont, Sian Best, and Diana Liu.

This year, the girls are even trying a new kind of workout at some of their practices.

“One of our coaches is a synchronized swimmer on the U of I club team, so we did some of that in the preseason," said Belmont. "It was pretty fun, but also really challenging."

“We are trying a new tact on workouts,” said Schein. “More nonswimming conditioning, but still in the water. More music, more workout balls, and, in our future, more singing and dancing.”

"There's no negative attitude anywhere"

Clearly, the Uni swimmers are continuing to have fun, both in and out of the pool.

“Everyone is so excited, and there’s no negative attitude anywhere,” said Mestre.

"Being on the swim team really makes you friends with the people on the team because you're with them so early in the morning and together with everyone at all of the meets," said Best. "It's a pretty interesting dynamic, and although swimming may seem hard, we have a lot of fun."

Team traditions, such as pasta parties, sleepovers, and, as Mestre put it, “hardcore secret buddies,” will ensue as the season progresses.

The presence of six seniors imparts a strong sense of continuity to the team as Best, Belmont, Mestre, and Liu are joined by classmates Elizabeth Allen and Isaure Hostetter. Allen is in her third year of swimming for Uni and Hostetter her second.

"The team still has the same closeness that it had last year," said Best. "Everyone is getting to know one another, and it has the same quirk that it has always had."

The team even has special festivities during practices for birthdays and “un-birthdays,” which are assigned to those who don’t have a real birthday during the season.

“By the end of the season, we’re all pretty tight knit,” said Belmont. “I guess there is just something about swimming together every morning that creates a certain bond.”

Mestre also noted how close the team is.

"I don't do swimming for the competition," she said. "I do it for the team and the atmosphere. I've had some of my best experiences with those girls, and I've come back every year, despite the early mornings and killer workouts, for them."

United, inside and outside the pool

Besides being so well bonded, the team is also looking quite promising in their races.

"Everyone has really taken to swimming, and we have a lot of talent on the team, with some experienced swimmers and some not," said Best. "I think that this season is going to go really well."

“We have the addition of a lot more incoming swimmers, who are really fast,” added Mestre. “The unity of the team, it just seems a lot more coherent this year.”

Besides Nelson, who was sectional champion in the 500 freestyle last year as a freshman, underclassmen include sophomores Amalia Dolan, Maia Gersten, Anna Rubakhina, and Sarah Yockey, as well as freshmen Grace Anastasio, Elizabeth Michael, and Petra Rantanen. Juniors Jenny Cooke and Victoria Wong complete the ranks of upperclassmen.

As the team prepares for Saturday's competition against Stanford Olympia, the girls are generally feeling pretty confident.

“It is typically a very good first meet of the season because we really don’t have anything at stake,” said Schein. “It is meet that gives a baseline for each swimmer and a way to have fun.”

Throughout the season, the team members are hoping to improve themselves individually and beat last year’s times.

"Last year was a plateau year for me in terms of individual races," said Best. "I want to make senior year as good as I can!"

Besides setting personal records, the team also aims to work together, which can be difficult in a sport that is predominantly based on individuals.

“Since we have a very wide range of racing experience on the team, every swimmer contributes in her own specific way, and every team member supports each others’ goals.” said Schein.

Mestre agrees on the importance of team unity.

“I feel like, in the past, it’s been kind of a struggle to keep everyone together,” she said. “I would just really like to keep the team as one body.”

So, the Uni girls swim team dives into a new season with hopes of breaking personal records and becoming closer as a team.

Or as Schein put it simply: “Learn a lot, have fun, swim fast.”

2009 Girls Swimming Team Roster

• Elizabeth Allen (sr)
• Grace Anastasio (fr)
• Erika Belmont (sr)
• Sian Best (sr)
• Jenny Cooke (jr)
• Amalia Dolan (so)
• Maia Gersten (so)
• Isaure Hostetter (sr)
• Diana Liu (sr)
• Maritza Mestre (sr)
• Elizabeth Michael (fr)
• Milee Nelson (so)
• Petra Rantanen (fr)
• Anna Rubakhina (so)
• Victoria Wong (jr)
• Sarah Yockey (so)

2009 Girls Swimming Schedule

• Sept. 5: at Stanford Olympia
• Sept. 19: at Centennial Charger Invitational
• Sept. 26: vs. Charleston, O'Fallon (home meet)
• Sept. 29: at Centennial Tri-Meet
• Oct. 3: at Danville
• Oct. 10: at Champaign Central Invitational
• Oct. 14: at Urbana
• Oct. 17: vs. Eureka (home meet)
• Oct. 20: at Twin City Meet
• Oct. 24: at O'Fallon Invitational
• Nov. 7: at Normal U-High Invite
• Nov. 14: at IHSA Sectionals
• Nov. 20-1: at IHSA State Finals