At Lakeside High School, the swim team has had a strong season this past year. Though their practice schedule was reduced, both the girls’ and boys’ teams achieved a total of 84 personal bests over the season and won the conference title.

Though their season was meant to start at the beginning of November, their practice pool, the Hot Springs Family YMCA, was closed for renovations. Though the team could not practice, their first meet was scheduled for Nov. 13, and after a tough decision, coaches Paul Hiblong and Paul Castleman decided to continue with their plans to attend the meet.

On the 13th of November, the LHS swim team attended the Bryant November Invite 2025 without ever entering a pool as a team. Though most had prior experience, many swimmers had little knowledge of their events, strokes, or even how to enter the water. 

Paul Hiblong said that they decided to compete in the event, mainly because, “given the significant number of new athletes on the roster this season, this meet would serve as an opportunity to establish absolute baseline times for all incoming competitors.” 

Though the new swimmers’ practices were eliminated, the team managed to complete the meet: the men’s team got second place, and the women’s team received sixth. 

After the pool opened in late November, the team was able to practice hard and swim to build their strength and technique. 

The next month, on the 11th of December, the team attended a large meet at Russellville: the Cyclone Winter Invite. Their performance underscored their hard work and commitment from the early season: over 50% of swims were personal bests across the team.

After two weeks without practice due to winter break, Arkansas was hit by several rounds of ice and severe weather. While the roads were blocked and the pool was closed, the swimmers sat idle in their houses, unable to practice. 

Osvaldo Mardones commented on the time period: “Though I felt excited to get a break, I definitely felt like I was losing progress.” Though the team lost nearly a month of practice to the combination of the break and snow, they managed to come back and hit hard at the conference meet.

In February, at the 5A-South conference meet, both the men’s and women’s teams won, beating Benton, Lake Hamilton, and El Dorado. At the meet, over 70% of events led to personal bests, and the team’s connection and hard work pulled through to give them the win.

Sawyer Headlee gave some insight into the season and his feelings toward his fellow swimmers and coaches: “Even though the circumstances with the pool were not great, our success can really be attributed to our coaches and my teammates’ own hard work.”

Though their season was filled with hardships and roadblocks, their perseverance in the face of struggle built up their abilities when their practices couldn’t.