Leyden’s varsity swimming team will be facing a change this upcoming season that is really just a return to before. With Mr. Chuck Skrabacz no longer the head varsity coach, Mr. Chris Cook will be taking over. But Mr. Chris Cook is nothing new. He’s been coaching the JV team for years.

“I’m excited to be able to be able to work with the varsity boys because I’ve coached most of them as freshmen and sophomores and then in summer camps. [In previous years,] I got them ready for varsity and then let them go. This time I’m going to take them to the next step,” Cook explained

Cook has been coaching the boys JV team and is the girls varsity coach. He believes that his coaching experience will help improve the athletes individually. He is well-known for his ability to push athletes to their potential, and the swimming athletes are aware of what they should be expecting.

The boys will get to work with their previous JV coach and get to show off what they’ve been taught so far. It’s exciting for them to have their progress seen by their former coach. But they know this season will not be completely the same.

“Things are going to be very different this year because Mr. Cook has a very different coaching style than Mr. Skrabacz did. It might be pretty hard for some people to adjust to the increased workouts and the overall different environment. However, everyone has experienced Cook’s coaching as he was the previous JV coach,” senior Blake Thompson said.

The new training the team will have to face will push them to their limit to become better athletes.

“I push the girls pretty hard, and I push the boys just as hard. I don’t see a big difference. I don’t think I’m going to do a lot different between the two,” Cook said. “My attitude will be the same.”

The goals for the swimming goals are very individualized. Thompson wants “the swim team to be more competitive and for us to do better at our big meets.” His personal goal is to “drop enough time in order to get recognized by a division one school.” He believes that these goals are reachable with Cook’s coaching.

Cook knows that they have a few varsity swimmers coming from last year and a few good freshmen are coming out to help the team. He hopes to finish .500 in season dual meets. “I have more individual goals than as a team,” he said. “For me, I look more at an individual’s times, see where a swimmer starts and see where I can get them to at the end of the season.”