By Clara Conroy
Bright blue water flows below him. The room is filled with chatters and cheers. Suddenly, everything goes quiet. All the thoughts clear from his mind as he glides through the water, racing his opponents.

Sophomore Zach Kolker (15) started swimming competitively in meets at the age of 6. Kolker began swimming lessons at the YMCA in Marion, and soon learned to love it. Kolker likes being with his team. “It is a good, fun atmosphere, and I get to know more people,” Kolker said.

Kolker’s favorite races to compete in are the 200-yard back and 100-yard fly. Although he also does the 500-yard freestyle, 100-yard back and 200-yard freestyle.

Being on the varsity team at Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Kolker puts many hours into practicing. He practices for 11 hours each week. Mondays through Fridays, he has practice in the morning from 5:30 to 7:00, then again in the afternoon from 3:45 to 6:30. On Saturdays he goes in the morning from 7:45 to 10:00, his only day off is Sunday. Kolker claims his favorite part of the day is when he is done with practice, and can go home to relax.

Although Kolker does not go to Washington High School, his teammates treat him as one of their own. He likes being on the team and participating in all the fun activities that his team does. His freshman year, he was pressured into doing some strange experiments with his hair. At first, everyone on the team bleached their hair. After having bleached hair for some time, the Washington High School seniors gave him and the rest of the freshmen each a haircut. With a silly haircut, he kept his hat on as much as he could. When a week was up with his haircut, Kolker shaved his head. He says that he was very cold everywhere he went, and kept wearing his hat.

Before his district meet last season, Kolker and his team were waiting for the coach. As they were waiting, they went into a quiet room and talked about their goals and strategies for their races, so they could calm their nerves before the races started. Another activity that bonded the team together was, the team would huddle together and chant “Smash em, bash em, give them hell, go Warriors go, go Warriors go, go Warriors go!” They would all then get into a line and repeat “Warriors!”
When summer comes around, Kolker puts his swimming skills to a good use. He works at the Mount Vernon Pool, as a lifeguard. He started training to be a lifeguard this year, at the YMCA. He also teaches swimming lessons to kids at the pool, and is the assistant coach for the Mount Vernon swim team.

Swimmers work very hard to be great swimmers. “I can eat whatever I want and I still lose weight,” Kolker said. The past swim season, he lost 10 pounds, and would usually eat two footlong sandwiches before each meet.

Kolker has goals for both himself and his team for the next season. His main goal is to get onto the podium for 500-yard freestyle. Last year, the team won districts, and eight individuals made it to state, but his goal for the team next year is for them to win the state meet.