If nothing else, Parkland swimming in the virtual age has been...interesting.

“I think that it provides a great option for competition, whether it be the pandemic or if weather were to heavily impact a season,” said Parkland swimming coach Robert Robitaille. “We obviously prefer to compete in person, but for now virtual is the only viable option with the limited capacities due to the restrictions.”

For the most part, Robitaille’s girls and boys squads have adjusted to myriad small, but collectively significant changes to their training, routine and ultimately competition in the pool.

“They’ve been fairly resilient to the changes,” he said. “That said, we are having to teach athletes how to become more intrinsically motivated rather than externally motivated.”

An example of this is crowd noise. Anyone who’s attended a Parkland swim meet knows the drama of the moment and cheering from the crowd can inspire a swimmer. This year, it’s been like attending church. Still, Robitaille said a swimmer it often picked up by teammates. Ultimately, they are responsible for their performance.

“We are fortunate that our seating capacity allows for us to have a very limited fan section,” Robitaille said. “Even with the fans, unless it is districts or Emmaus, the kids really rely on each other to bring the energy, so this isn’t all that different.”

Last Thursday afternoon, the rival Green Hornets were the opponent. All swim meets count the same in the standings, but there is a little extra juice when the scarlet and gray battle the green and gold.

“We have a very respectful rivalry with Emmaus,” Robitaille said. “Many of our kids know each other and we are so familiar with each other that over the years it has become more of a celebration of what we know are going to be some fast swims during the regular season.”

Celebrations aside, the focus for Parkland is still on one thing.

“Don’t get me wrong, we want to race and win just as much as they do,” said Robitaille. “But in the end I think when Emmaus and Parkland get together the kids are more excited because they know that the energy of the meet will be high, and that they’re going to watch and participate in some fast swimming.”

The two schools split the competition with the Parkland boys losing 113-67 and the girls winning 112-73. On the boys side Isaiah Moreef and on the girls roster Devon Corvaia continually perform well.

“Devon started to have a great breakout postseason right before the pandemic hit, so I’m excited to have the chance to watch her finish that off this season,” said the coach. “Isaiah is really focusing on making tactical and technical corrections to gain speed in the water. I’m excited to see him put all those items together in a series of fast and efficient swims.”