In the wake of the August 10 derecho, many buildings and schools have had to quickly adapt to change and work with what they have left. Some schools lost more than others.

 Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School suffered significant damage to their building. They are unable to hold classes in person until late December or even in January. A lot of the sports facilities are also unable to be used. That is not stopping its fall athletes, especially the girls’ swim team.

The Kennedy girls’ swim team was unable to use their pool until October 19. They had to practice at Washington, Linn-Mar and Jefferson high schools and switch up their practice times. Xavier junior Anne Baumann who swims for Kennedy explained that despite all of that, they have not slowed down and have gotten much closer.

“I think we have a very good chemistry this year,” Baumann said. “We are very close as we really only hangout with each other due to COVID-19. This unity has helped us push through the difficult season and will definitely push us through to state.”

The team usually practices early in the morning at around 6 a.m., but because of cooperation with other schools, they’ve had to alter their schedule.

“We’ve moved around from Linn-Mar to Jefferson to Washington and had very late and early practice times,” Baumann said. “It was hard to come to practice with a positive attitude when we practiced late from 7 to 9 p.m.”

The team is still strong and staying motivated. For Xavier junior Jessica Lyon it is all about getting back home to Kennedy.

“We stayed motivated by hoping that we would get to just swim in the Kennedy pool just once this season and our team helps a lot,” Lyon said. “We have a great team dynamic even though we haven’t had much team bonding this year because of the virus, but we have always been very close with each other. We have also had motivation just by being consistent at our meets.”

Being a member of this team has meant a lot for Lyon. It feels like a family to her.

“Being on a team like this is amazing because we are like family especially since we spend a lot of time together,” Lyon said. “It’s always sad because I will not see them everyday, but I am still pretty close with a lot of them. I love the team because I know people do not get to have a team like this one a lot of other times.”

The team will use their team chemistry and connection when they compete in their regional meet on November 5 for diving and November 7 for swimming and both will be held at Dubuque Hempstead High School.