“Ashley Wallace swims the 200 freestyle at a triangular meet last season. She and Sara Bartlett make up South Whidbey’s girls swimming team.It’s not a fall sport that is on the minds of many South Whidbey High School students, but the school’s girls swimming program is going into its fourth year of competition this season.After growing to five members last season, the team numbers just two this year. Seniors Sara Bartlett and Ashley Wallace will swim as part of a combined South Whidbey-Mariner High School team and will do their daily practices at the Mukilteo school.Team coach Amy Dixon said the Falcon swimmers are in good shape after a summer of lifeguarding. The challenge facing the two girls this year is to qualify for the district swimming championships. Last year, senior Domi Lawer was the only Falcon to go to that meet. Ryanne Gerry, a 2000 South Whidbey graduate, is the only Falcon girls swimmer to compete at the state meet. She and Lawer placed in enough events at the 1999 2A district championship meet to place 10th out of 13 teams.Coach Dixon said some changes in the Falcon girls’ events could help them meet their goal of taking a small team to the district meet. Which events those will be is still up in the air.It’s too soon to tell, she said.Wallace swam the 200 and 500 freestyle last year, while Bartlett took to the breaststroke and the 200 individual medley.Being a Falcon swimmer requires a good deal of dedication. The girls on the team must get themselves to Mariner High School. During late-season taper practices, they can wind up practicing there twice a day – once in the early morning before school and once after school.The combined swim team started competing in a jamboree meet at Kamiak High School. Dixon said Wallace and Bartlett are still looking for more girls to join the team, which will happily accommodate any Falcon swimmer or diver who turns out.If South Whidbey team members do qualify for district or state competition, they will separate from the 4A Mariner swimmers at the end of the season to compete in 2A championship meets. “