Although STA swimmers still don their swim caps and swimsuits before a meet, this year the team has experienced a new tradition before meets: praying. Coach Andy Wilcox leads the team as they all bow their heads and pray the Hail Mary, ending in the STA tradition by asking for the intercession of St. Teresa of Avila and St. Joseph.

Praying before meets is just one of the ways that Wilcox has included faith into the swim team. He encouraged his players to attend the parent-daughter liturgy Dec. 10, and so many attended that the mass moved to the auditorium. He asked each player to write religious goals before they wrote academic, family and athletic goals. And he told each player to “swim for someone else,” incorporating the Sisters of St. Joseph’s principle of caring for the dear neighbor.

To see how these changes have affected both players and coaches, The Dart turned to senior Nicole Twaddle and Wilcox.

Dart: What was that morning like, going to mass with the team?

Twaddle: It was a positive experience but it was different because I had never done anything like that before. But it was great. It brought us closer together as a team and it got parents and the team together.

Wilcox: It was awesome. It is a tradition I borrowed from Coach Winkeler at Rockhurst. I think it does nothing but build unity.

D: Does incorporating religion into the team makes you all more unified?

T: It does make us more unified. Wilcox is really big on being a team, and this is just one way he has brought us together. I think [incorporating religion] does bring us closer together. We needed that.

W: It makes them closer as a family. Being committed to the team is putting yourself last and others first, an action Christ calls us to do.

D: How has the team responded to Wilcox’s methods? Does incorporating faith motivate the team to succeed?

T: Most of the team has responded positively to Wilcox’s methods. Incorporating faith has motivated our team. Wilcox always says, “Swim for someone else.” I know that for me, that has helped me push myself to keep going when all I want to do is stop. Wilcox has found a way to use it to make us succeed. Our team morals are based off Christian morals

D: Why is Wilcox making such an effort to get the team to be involved in their faith?

T: I think Wilcox is making such an effort to get the team involved in their faith because he has seen what it has done for him and for others, so he wants us to see what it can do for ourselves.

W: My goal is to increase their spirituality and to help them become more involved. Many of them are near the age of confirmation. We are a Roman Catholic school. We need to lead by example.