Due to becoming Kirn Middle School’s athletic director and not being able to coach anymore, Logan Maxwell had to resign as the Abraham Lincoln girls swim team coach. As a result, the girls swim team has a new coach, Stephenie Dale. In Dale’s previous years she coached many sports, and she was also an assistant/volunteer high school swim coach while she was in high school and college. She also coached track and field, boys and girls swimming, girls volleyball, and softball.

“I can handle high levels of stress, and I’m very mindful of what I say and do. Ultimately I’m an educator and coach, and I have to be a positive model for these girls. I take that responsibility very seriously,” Dale said. 

With a new coach, things are different. Especially for the ALHS juniors and seniors, whose last years on the swim team will be with Dale, following her new rules and the changes that are going to come along with that. 

“It has been hard this year because the team has gotten used to one coach so it is a big change,” said senior Brook Leichtner. “It has been very different adapting to the changes that come with it.” 

Along with Leichtner, Luciana Gruber, a junior at ALHS, is also adjusting.

“It’s definitely different, especially when we had such an amazing coach these past few years and we have to adjust to someone new and run things differently, but we are all working hard and having a good time,” Gruber said.

A new coach also means a new beginning, new challenges, and new goals for the team, and for Dale herself.

“My goal is to make it through the season, celebrate what we did well, and adjust what’s not working. There is a lot of work behind the scenes that goes into this specific job, and I want to improve the functionality of our team,” Dale said. 

Along with Dale, the girls have personal and group targets for the team this year, especially juniors and seniors. The juniors and seniors are feeling good about themselves, especially with their high school swim careers ending in the next year or two, and they all have multiple goals they hope to fulfill this season.

“I want our girls to make state like we’ve been doing these past few years,” Gruber said. “The whole team has goals to work hard on and have a good season, especially with six of our best girls graduating at the end of the year. I really just hope we can all have a good time and feel successful in our improvement, and I hope our senior girls feel like they got a lot out of our last season together and that we all can share good memories with each other.”