After a 13th place finish last year, the Manhattan High swim team looks to enter this new year stronger than ever.

“Our team expects to win league this year,” junior Suman Wang said. “It’s been awhile since we have won league so that is our main goal.”

Swim has most of its swimmers returning from last year, making the team stronger than ever. Seniors Preston Harrison and Wyatt Balman will look to lead the team this year.

“My main idea is to make sure everyone is working as hard as they can,” Harrison said. “If they have fun and compete well then that’s what really matters.”

Harrison will compete in a number of events on the year and look to improve and reach new personal bests as he is a key swimmer for this year’s team.

“I’m looking to win state,” Harrison said. “I also want to make All-American because I just barely missed it last year. I want to see other individual state qualifiers also for the team, because that will show how well we perform.

Wang was a key part of the varsity team last year; his Medley relay team finished 12th in state and he is confident in the upcoming year.

“Last year we had great talent and this year we have the same returning talent and with much higher numbers which are super important for scoring points at meets,” Wang said. “Alex Brown, our head coach, is already planning out our season and our divers are also preparing for the season. And [junior] Zane Kohl got fifth in state last year and he’s going to be even better this year.”

The diving team is looking to make big strides this year as well. They are returning their divers from last year as well as adding plenty of depth, making the teams more well rounded. They also have a hefty group of underclassmen, with a large number of freshmen joining the team this year.

“Almost half of the team this year is freshman” Harrison said. “We have a lot of talented people who can prove themselves and a lot of them are year round swimmers so they already have experience.”

Competing for a league title, and ultimately a state title, will not be an easy task, but the team believes it is achievable.

“We definitely are going for a league title,” Harrison said. “We want to see a lot of good swimmers make it to state and win in their events also.”