Late last September, nine new starting blocks were installed by the pool. Costing $2,000 per block, they are intended to give the swimmers a new edge when competing. The blocks will help coaches see if swimmers false start and will also be able to give the swimmers accurate times of when they leave the block.

The new blocks also help keep the sectional meet at DGS. Girls’ swim coach Bryan Szweda explains.

“We host big meets, we host sectionals quite a bit and to be honest, we had started to get some push back from us hosting that meet because of the blocks that we had. So the fact that we have state-of-the-art blocks will allow us to continue running some big meets,” Szweda said.

With the opportunity to practice using the same pool and starting blocks, it may help the DGS swim team get a feel for the blocks and may help them succeed in big meets.

One of the reasons the old blocks were removed is that they had become outdated. The old blocks stood by the pool for over 25 years. As times moved forward, the boards didn’t have the new technology that could have made it easier to determine when their feet left the board.

The boards also had the chance of crumbling out when someone pushed off them.

“[The boards] were small. We literally had pieces falling off of them. We literally had to solder them together,” Szweda said.

At that point they finally decided to ditch the old boards and replace them with the new ones. The new blocks have advanced technology and features, including a light that turns green when it’s time to start, handles at the sides of the board, and a pad that alerts the computer when the swimmer leaves the board.

Junior Jordan Bertrand, who’s on the JV team, enjoys the boards. Her favorite aspect is the light feature.

“I think the best thing about the blocks is probably the lights because then there’s less of a chance of you going before the buzzers actually buzzed,” Bertrand said.

Bertrand believes that with the help of the light, it will help her start on time without being too early or too late. With the help of the lights, she feels confident that she will not let her team down.

However, there are a few things that make some swimmers uncomfortable. Junior Skyler Groveau explains how she feels about the blocks.

“I’m not used to how they feel on my feet because it’s like a different texture than the old ones, so I need time to get used to them. I have been using the old ones since freshman year, and now I’m a junior, so halfway through the season, and having a change is just different,” Groveau said.

With the new texture of the blocks halfway through the season, some swimmers are trying to get used to them before the big meets. A few swimmers fear that not being used to the blocks may mess up their starting position and their time for big meets.

To watch the blocks in action, you can cheer on the next girls’ home meet on Nov.10.