VIDEO: Sailing Team Chills Out

There were four lobster boats in the water off Fisherman’s Beach last Thursday afternoon, a few seagulls looking for a late lunch and the 14 members of the Swampscott High School Sailing Team doing some swimming.

Coach Bart Lowden led the team into water safety drills after the kids put on their water safety suits in the Fish House.

“Oh yes, it’s cold, but it’s something we have to do,” Lowden said.  “Safety is our number one priority and we need to find out where we’re at as far as cold water swimming is concerned.”

The wind was howling at the end of the pier.

Captain Anna Booras and teammate Shannon McGovern hit the water first, and spent over six minutes in the water, swimming and circling a buoy and putting on floatation devices before they could climb back on the pier.

Booras was one of the students who got the sailing team started as a club team in 2009, sailing has been a varsity sport the last two seasons.

“It was pretty cold, you feel it in your fingers and your legs,” Booras said. “Sometimes it’s hard to catch your breath, but you’ve got to push through it.”

“I’ve been sailing all my life, so I’ve been in cold water before,” Booras said.

The sailing team will face tough tests on the water this season from Buckingham, Browne & Nichols, Manchester, Lincoln-Sudbury and Boston Latin.

“I grew up in Marblehead and have been teaching sailing for 11 years,” Lowden said. “Communication is the key to being a good sailor and putting together a good sailing team.”

Booras will serve as co-captain with teammates Marco Bauder and Alex Billias this season.

The sailing team will have a team dinner on the evening of April 13, the night before they kick of the 2011 season on Thursday afternoon at Fisherman’s Beach against Brookline High School.  The races begin at 3:30 p.m.

The Atlantic Ocean should be about 3-4 degrees warmer when the season starts.

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