It is said that swimming is a sport of a lifetime, something individuals can do regardless of age.

It turns out that swimming is also a sport that athletes can combine with a variety of other activities.

Marcie Fites, a member of the Aberdeen Swim Club who is competing in the Annual Indoor High Point Meet at the Aberdeen Family Y this weekend, combines swimming with dancing.

The 16-year-old talked about the main difference between the two during a break in the competition Saturday morning.

“One is on land and the other one is in water,” Fites said.

When asked if she could potentially dance in the water, Fites responded, “I could totally try. I don’t know if my tap shoes would work very well, though.”

Fites does have a favorite between the two activities.

“I think I like swimming better,” she said. “I guess I just grew up with it, and I really like all my friends. It’s just fun.”

She said she also feels more pressure in one activity compared to the other.

“Definitely dance, because you have like this one big recital at the end of the year, that you have to work for and remember everything, and I don’t have a very good memory,” Fites said. “For swim, you just have to focus that one meet. You just gotta get through that one meet.”

Despite growing up in a land-locked state, Fites has always had a fondness for water.

“We would go on family vacations every year and I would always like to swim in the pool,” Fites said, “and when I was little, we had a pool at our old house and apparently I liked that, too.”

Interestingly, her siblings were standout athletes the sports of volleyball and gymnastics, but she said those sports were not for her.

“I guess people are just drawn to different sports,” Fites said.

While Fites enjoys competing and has goals just like other swimmers, she particularly enjoys the camaraderie with other swimmers.

“I do get competitive sometimes, but I guess it’s not my main focus,” Fites said. “My main focus is hanging out with my friends and getting better.”

JOHNSTON CHOOSES SWIMMING OVER WRESTLING

Sometimes athletes have to make choices when it comes to sports. Gavin Johnston of the Aberdeen Swim Club decided to keep swimming and drop wrestling this season.

“I love swim a lot more than wrestling, so it was pretty easy,” Johnston said of the choice.

When asked if swimming was less painful than wrestling, the 13-year-old responded, “Yes and no, because the endurance part of this is a lot harder and sometimes it can be more painful.”

Johnston said learning to cope with pain is all part of being a swimmer.

“You have to just be OK with your pain,” he said, “and you have to kick through the pain even if your legs are dying.”

Johnston comes from an athletic family. His mom (the former Jessica Braun) was a standout basketball player, and his siblings are involved in everything from track and field, to volleyball, and basketball.

He said he plans to stick with swimming.

Johnston said visualization is a key to his swimming success.

“I just see myself and I think that I can get better,” he said, “and that motivates me.”

He also credited those around him for helping him to become a better swimmer.

“My parents help me train and my coaches do, too,” Johnston said, “and I have some really great teammates that push me do to my best.”

SWIMMING CLICKS FOR MALSAM

There are many reasons why people select a sport to compete in. For Aberdeen Swim Club member Claire Malsam it was a bit of a process of elimination before she settled on swimming.

“Mainly because nothing else worked out,” Malsam said. “I’ve tried basically every other sport, but hockey.”

There was something about being the pool that Malsam found to her liking.

“It kept me on my toes,” Malsam said. “I tried basketball. I didn’t click with basketball, because there was a lot of running, same with soccer, which is odd, I’m in track now.”

Malsam could be labeled as a sprinter in both swimming and track and field. While she competes at some of the same distances, the 16-year-old said they don’t feel completely alike.

“There’s a lot of similarities. Running and swimming, it’s like you’re racing,” Malsam said. “The difference in a 200 running feels a lot shorter than 200 swimming, because it’s 200 yards either way, but it feels longer in swimming.”

Malsam said she tries to find things that will make her go faster in the pool.

“I really pay attention to the people next to me, although I shouldn’t because it causes you to make more distractions,” Malsam said. “But I always try to focus on getting off the wall as quick as possible, even thought it might not look like it.”

MILBANK SWIMMER PART OF WATERTOWN SQUAD

Pierce Mathiason is making the most of his opportunities. The 16-year-old from Milbank swims for the Watertown squad.

“We had a team, but we couldn’t find a coach, I believe it was,” Mathiason said, “so we had to join Watertown.”

He said it was a bit of an adjustment at first, but that is soon became a natural fit.

“At first it absolutely was (a struggle), but once I got to know them, it was great having more buddies,” Mathiason said.

He also competes in track and field, and golf, but said he likes one sport better than the others.

“I love swimming the most, I’d say. It pushes me the most to be the best I can possibly be,” Mathiason said. “I meet more friends in swim than I do in the other sports, I would say.”

Mathiason said there is a lot more to swimming than just diving in a pool and navigating through the water.

“It’s a lot of thinking. There’s so much going on,” he said. “It’s not just physical. You have to think about everything you do.”

Mathiason has a legendary resource he can turn to for advice. His great uncle is former Northern State football coach and athletic director Jim Kretchman, who was in attendance watching him on Saturday morning.

“He’s very wise,” Mathiason.

PULLING DOUBLE DUTY

Piper Hoerner of the Aberdeen Swim Club was busy inside and outside the pool on Saturday morning.

The 14-year-old volunteered her services as a number counter for a teammate, holding a stick with different numbers on it indicating the number of laps that had taken place in a race.

When she competes, Hoerner said she likes the longer races the best, listing the 500-meter race (20 laps) as her personal favorite.

“I like distance swimming, because it’s just like a break from chaos,” Hoerner said. “You have to get up and at it.”

The long races give her plenty of time to contemplate things while she’s in the pool.

“You just try to think about what you’re swimming and how you can help out,” Hoerner said, “and how you can have your mind on what you’re doing.”

Hoerner has a strategy for distance races, and part of it has to do with the people in the lanes beside her.

“I just start out slow and get faster,” Hoerner said.

The fellow competitors play a role in Hoerner’s decision of when to go for it.

“The people next to me are pacers,” she said. “I follow them and then when they get faster or slower, I just speed up.”

She said another key factor in races are the turns, of which there are many when a race has 20 laps.

“The turns are important, because you have to touch the walls like it’s an oven,” Hoerner said. “Like if it’s hot, you have to get off of it.”

Hoerner, who also competes in show choir, credited those around her for the success she has in swimming.

“I like how my team members are so supportive,” Hoerner said, “and my coaches are great coaches.”

The meet concludes today.