Have you ever wanted to be like Olympic medal winning swimmer Michael Phelps? Well I have, that’s for sure. At 6’4”, 196 lbs of pure muscle — what’s not to love? The Stuart Hall swim team is coached by Mr. Krautkramer in the spring season, and never fails to keep us sitting on the edge of our seats, or rather the edge of the diving board. The team has just started daily practices at Hamilton Rec Center. Nico Degliantoni ‘15, says “I’m a little nervous because I’ve never done swimming before. I’m just doing it for the heck of it.” Couldn’t have said it better. A truly great example of the kind of students Stuart Hall pumps out — those who are willing to try new things.

The swim team has really started to pick up steam this year, as there are many more gents on the team. As well as the boys we have on our team, there are also 7 girls from the Broadway campus that swim too. The first year the team was created there was a lack of swimmers; I think we all remember that speech Mr. Krautkramer gave a while back. The boys have just finished three meets in one week, and according to Mr. Krautkramer, “I am very proud of them”. One of these meets was an invitational which included schools such as Cathedral and Saint Ignatius.
Swimming is a sport that takes a lot of overall body strength, and what better example than our very own Benzi Blatman. I interviewed Benzi before their first meet and he said, “I am a little nervous for our first meet”. I would be too, but it sounded like the meet went fairly well.

I encourage all Stuart Hall students and faculty to give the swimmers a high five for their hard work. All you need is your trusty speedo, goggles, cap, and you’re ready to go. If you are interested in learning more about the swim team, you can contact the coach, Mr. Krautkramer at tristan.krautkramer@sacredsf.org. We wish the team luck in the upcoming season and hope they sidestroke their way to victory.