Every season, fans of the Emmaus swim team come into the season with high expectations. Last season saw Taylor O'Brien take gold in states for the 500 freestyle. Other Emmaus swimmers also had some success and the boys team came home with an eighth place finish at the PIAA championships.

This year's edition of the swimming team has seven new girls and one new boy, all looking to eventually take their spot on the state podium and also help lead the team to another successful season.

The girls were 10-5 overall and 9-1 in the Lehigh Valley Conference last season. Even with the loss of key swimmers, Emmaus still has four girls - Maura Brennan, Claire Frank, Taylor Iobst and Morgan Weigner - who qualified for states last year. Brennan and Iobst are seniors now, while both Frank and Weigner are still just sophomores.

Tim O'Connor is entering his 10th season leading the program and views the loss of seven girls as an opportunity to rebuild the system with up and coming swimmers.

"We were fortunate years ago to just reload, but we're not in that phase now; everything is cyclical," O'Connor said. "The kids that are coming up have a passion for the sport and they want to learn and all of the new girls that we have this year are coachable and they want to learn.

"There's optimism that even though we lost a lot, we have young kids here who we don't know how good they can be. They might end up eventually being better than the swimmers that they're replacing."

Iobst is poised to go a long way this season as a senior. Last season, she felt the pressure of having been tagged as one of the team leaders, but this season, she's got a new attitude and approach to the season. She's welcoming the leadership role, but not allowing it to become a distraction and is leading more and more by example. Iobst is known for being the first one in the pool and the last one out, often staying after practice to work on a particular aspect of her talents.

"I feel that every little bit of extra work that I do is a little more work than an opponent might be doing and can make the difference," said Iobst. "Last year, I felt like I needed to put the team on my back, but this year, I'm learning to just relax and know that I've put in the work and the team has put in their work and we'll be okay. All you can do is encourage."

Iobst has taken what she's learned about relaxing in the pool, applied it to other parts of her life and believes that she's better positioned for success because she's accepting she can't expect perfection in everything. Her new approach may well be a key component to more success. When she graduates in June, Iobst will be off to George Mason University, where she'll continue swimming.

"I just really felt comfortable with their team and their coach and it's a good school," said Iobst. "It's kind of nice that their colors are green and gold, too."

On the boys side, junior Cody Wimmer is in an interesting spot. He realizes that there are underclassmen looking to unseat him, but he also realizes that many of those swimmers are looking to him for leadership. The boys were 14-1 overall and 10-0 in the LVC, putting a target on their backs for this season, but Wimmer believes that's normal for the Emmaus swim team.

"We're sort of used to it. We've had a lot of success and every year teams are trying to beat us and we have been able to keep having success, so we've gotten used to it and that helps us a lot," said Wimmer.

Both Wimmer and O'Connor believe that there might not be as many superstar type swimmers on the team this year, but the depth is better than it's been in the past. Wimmer also believes that he and his teammates realize that hard work is going to be the difference for their team.

"Some of our athletes aren't as naturally talented as we've been in the past, so we have buckled down and are working harder this year than I think we've worked in the past," said Wimmer.