Now that the 2025-26 Winter Season has come to an end, it’s a great time to reflect on what the CCHS Swim and Dive Team has accomplished so far. Looking back on their season, there’s a lot to be grateful for. The girls’ team finished undefeated at 11-0, making team history as Concord-Carlisle Swim Team’s (CCSD) first undefeated season, as well as coming in first in DCLs, Sectionals, and States. The girls got first in Sectionals for the fourth time in a row, and first in States for the second time in a row. On the boys’ side, they finished 7-3, also setting a record high for themselves, and came in 7th in Sectionals and 5th in States.
The head coach of the team, Coach Goldberg, remarked on the successes of both the boys’ and girls’ teams. When asked if he had expected such positive seasons from both teams, he responded with this: “I knew it was possible, but I certainly wasn’t going to expect it. We had chances in the previous season, but got sick at the wrong time and lost to Wayland two years ago when we had a few girls sick, and last year we lost to Weston when we had a few people sick.” Of course, the outcome of their victories could’ve changed at any time had one more swimmer been sick, or one more swimmer on the other team been healthy enough to score points. Some teams they compete against are very similar to CCSD in terms of skill, athletes, and more. He went on to say, “I knew that we would have some really close meets and were up against a few teams that would really push us, but I knew we could do it. I knew they could match up against anybody and have a good meet.”
As much as swimming is an individual sport, skill isn’t the only thing that determines how well you perform. It often depends on how the team performs together and how they build each other up. Upon reflecting on the team’s cohesiveness, Goldberg explained, “. . . this team came together, worked hard, had fun, shared tears and laughs, but most of all, remembered what was important.” He went on to say that they weren’t mainly focusing on the wins or losses, but on each other.
With early morning meets like Sectionals and States, it can be tricky for athletes to get their bodies ready in time for their races. In preparation for this adjustment to early mornings, Goldberg talked to his team about it to help enhance their performances: “We started talking about getting the athlete’s metabolism going early in the morning. We talked about some light exercises that they could do first thing in the morning each day of the week, so that by States they would be ready to perform in the early morning. The team took on that challenge, getting up a few minutes early each day that week to get their bodies moving.” He explained that thanks to this hard work each day, the teams were all ready by States. This dedication to swimming led to physical preparation that allowed them to thrive at States.
In addition to physical preparation, the team also uses some mental preparation to improve their way of thinking about their races: “All season long, we talked about the mentality of ‘being better today than we were yesterday.’ But as we approached the end of the season, we started talking more about our sphere of control . . . How we can control what we do to prepare, but we can’t control what any other team will do . . Instead, we focus on trying to control the controllables and not worry about what we can’t control. We also talked about reframing nervousness from fear to readiness. Instead of thinking, ‘I’m nervous, I feel off, something is wrong,’ start thinking, ‘This is my nervous system rising to the occasion. I feel this way because I care about what I’m doing.’” As someone who has swam under the direction of Goldberg this past season, I’ve personally used this technique and can attest to how helpful it really has been. Using these methods, it feels as if though I can better comprehend how I’m feeling in the moment. I often ask myself, “why am I so nervous for this event?” and while it may not fully calm me down, it definitely helps to process through my feelings more. With the right outlook, you can begin to shift your thinking around better understanding why an emotion is coming up, while also redirecting yourself to focus more controlling what you can control. When you do this, you can become even more confident about swimming, or possibly any sport you do.
Wrapping up seasons can put a great deal of pressure on the last meet or game, but Coach Goldberg explains that “at the end of the day, it’s not the wins or losses, but what we were able to do together that we’ll remember.”
