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The Marshalltown girls' swimming and diving squad has experienced a decrease in numbers, but head coach Angie Nelson says her team is loaded with talent.
The Bobcats bring back five girls with state swimming experience and a state diving qualifier as a part of their 16-person contingent for the fall campaign.
MHS kicks off the new season at home Tuesday against perennial power Ames before settling into a schedule that Nelson said is one her club can swim with night in and night out.
"I have a fabulous group of girls here," Nelson said. "We don't have a lot of numbers, but we have a super-ton of talent and I'm really, really excited to see what they'll do this year."
The Bobcats sent five swimming events and junior diver Harlie Thatcher to state last fall in the first season-ending championship not at the Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA in 21 years. The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union voted to move the state meet to the University of Iowa's Campus Recreation and Wellness Center starting with the fall of 2025, and the current contract expires in 2028.
No longer a veritable home meet for the Bobcats, getting to state is now even more of a journey for Marshalltown's competitors.
Nelson is just happy to have five state swimming veterans with a combined 23 state swims under their caps.
Senior Leia Hernandez headlines the crew for the Bobcats, having qualified for state in a grand total of eight events prior to her final season at MHS. Hernandez has been a part of six freestyle relays at state as well as qualifying for the 50-yard freestyle as a sophomore and the 100 freestyle as a junior.
Adele Beek, a junior, is a two-time 100 breaststroke qualifier in as many seasons and has twice been a member of both the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay teams.
Emma Case (4 events) and Drea Ceren (3) are juniors with state meet experience, as is Addison Elmore (2), a sophomore from GMG High School.
"They've been putting in the extra time," Nelson said of her returning state qualifiers. "They've been working on some things this summer, they're getting a little stronger, and I really think they're gonna do really, really well.
"I've got a lot of talent here, and they're all really versatile, so I can move them all over the place and we're gonna be just fine."
Nelson fully anticipates the Ames meet to start the season will be an eye-opener, but it will also be a great way to measure her team in the early going.
"It's hard because it's the first meet and they'll throw their studs, so that one might be a little tough to swallow," Nelson said, "but we'll throw what we can at them and see where we're sitting right now, and then you may not see that lineup for a couple more meets down the road because I don't need to throw that lineup for a Des Moines East or North."
Nelson said one of the hardest parts about some of her meets on the schedule this season is visiting teams without diving, where the Bobcats expect to score first-place points most of the time. Thatcher took 24th in her state diving debut last fall and is poised to climb the ladder in her senior season, Nelson said.
"Harlie looks great already, she's been working hard," said Nelson. "She's a gymnast so she's been all over the circuit this summer, working on a few things, improving some board work and some height. She's going to have a great season."
Thatcher made it 10 years in a row that the Bobcats have advanced a diver to state, and she'll get her fair share of chances in the pool, too. Without enough swimmers to fill out a lineup, Nelson said she'll have to get creative in her quest to challenge her squad while also winning meets.
"It's gonna be a little chess match each meet to try and figure out where we can collect the most points so we can come out on top," she said. "I don't want to be too high on myself and I don't want to underestimate anybody, because you really don't know yet, so it's a guessing game here for the first couple of weeks and then you start to figure out where you're really at."
Nelson said her team's versatility will make it easier to make out a nightly lineup that gives her girls competitive races, whether it be from the opposition or her own team.
"We're gonna move them around to make good races for them, just to see what they're good at," Nelson said. "I don't want to be surprised at the end of the season. I've got a whole team of Swiss Army Knives, which is great."