The success of 2018-2019 Parkland girls swimming campaign will come down to two factors: work ethic and a learning curve.

“We have a tremendous amount of work to do if we plan to continue to be successful,” said coach Robert Robitaille. “We are smaller than usual, due to a variety of factors. I am confident that the team will work diligently to engineer what we need to compete.”

The Lady Trojans roster is much less experienced than in years past, and the first few months of the season will be focused on developing that young talent as quickly as possible.

“The immediate future will be filled with working toward the best growth possible in the next 90 days,” he said. “The ability is there, but like all things, growth takes time and patience.”

One Parkland swimmer with plenty of ability is senior Ally Lin.

“She is a very talented kid that we look to do a lot of utility work and set some records for the team at the end of the season,” the coach said.

Juniors Alexa Brinker, Lexi Lehman and Katharine Gottwald will also have a huge impact on the team’s fortunes this year.

“All three of these of these divers are talented and work together as a team to push each other to become better,” Robitaille said. “They continue to grow and continue to do what they need to become better, which we greatly need.”

Robitaille has a wait-and-see attitude on the rest of the squad.

“I am looking forward to watching our freshmen and sophomores push new limits and see how far we can get them before the end of the season,” he said. “We look for our juniors and seniors to do what they always do - grow and lead - which I know they are pushing themselves to do.”

Robitaille has been a successful coach at Parkland, in part, due to his ability to get kids to realize and sometimes surpass their perceived potential.

“Watching kids achieve what they think is impossible,” the coach said of what drives him. “Impossible is only that until you step up and do it. Then you wonder why you didn’t do it earlier. Then you set a new goal and get to it and wonder why it took you so long.”