Athlete Of The Week: Izzy Hardwicke

NORTH EASTHAM – Izzy Hardwicke wants to help foster a tight, cohesive girls swimming and diving team. With six underclassmen on the squad — including three eighth-graders — Hardwicke, a senior co-captain from Chatham, understands the importance of building the team’s chemistry.

“Every year, the team changes a lot and goes through a lot of changes, but I feel like we always have such a strong bond with each other and that really helps in the pool and out of the pool and staying strong as a team,” Hardwicke said. “I feel like if we weren’t friends and we weren’t doing team dinners and hanging out with each other we wouldn’t be as cohesive in relays and individual events.”

The captain’s team-first perspective has helped the Warriors in the pool, most recently on Dec. 19, when the girls swam to an 89-71 victory over St. John Paul II at Willy’s Gym in North Eastham.

Hardwicke played a strong role in the win, competing in the 50-yard freestyle, 100 butterfly, 200 medley relay and the 400 free relay.

The relay teams gained valuable confidence earlier when they helped contribute to the girls and boys teams’ combined winning score of 121 points at the Cape and Islands Relay Carnival on Dec. 19 at Sandwich.

“It was very exciting to start the season off like that,” Hardwicke said. “I feel like it gave us momentum to keep going and keep pushing because we were really close with some of the other teams.”