After sharing a teacher with Mansfield High School for a year, teacher Amy Lamar has been hired to coach swimming.

“Being on-campus allows me to meet the swimmers’ needs, as well as helps with communication,” she said. “I’ve been able to spend more time with the team, allowing us to work together better.”

She also is teaching art.

“I really like my schedule because even though I have swimming in the morning, I can focus on art when I get to school,” Lamar said.

Senior Melissa Torres, who has swam for four years, is glad to have an on campus coach.

“I feel like if we have a question or if we don’t have practice, we have a place to go,” she said. “We can go to her where as before we (had) to wait till the next day.”

Lamar, who coached swimming at Cedar Hill H.S. the last three years,  said she has ideas to build up the small team.

“If students are interested in swimming or diving, they can come talk to me anytime,” she said. “(The district)  also has a great club, and swim lesson program for students.”

She plans to recruit at the middle school.

*We are going to invest a lot of energy in the middle school program this spring,” she said. “Also, I will be holding parent meetings in the spring/end of the school year to get information out to students who are interested in joining the team.”

The workouts have changed.

“I have a very strategic outline of our workout schedule for this season,” she said. “We are working on technique and strength to build our speed.”

Other than competing at TISCA, Texas Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association, and Regionals, Lamar has goals in mind.

“I would like my swimmers to feel more confident in their abilities and also put more emphasis on the swim team,” she said. “So that we could, hopefully, build our numbers as a team.”

Breaking records is on the mind of one swimmer.

“I want to be closer to the Timberview 100 breaststroke record and also to make it to TISCA,” Sophomore Naa Bruce said. “(I hope) to qualify to go.”

She said that she appreciates Lamar, who went to State as a swimmer in high school.

“I am relieved that we have her as a coach and she is really involved with what we do,” Bruce said. “She believes that we can achieve way more than what we think.”

The team has worked well together, according to Lamar.

“We are a good match and our personalities go well with each other,” she said.

Lamar said she is looking forward to working with the athletes.

“I really believe that all of my swimmers have tons of potential,” she said. “At the end of the season, I want them to be as proud as I am of the goals that they have achieved.”