HOLLAND — Kasia Norman watched as nearly all of her Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics teammates joined their high school teams for the fall season.

At the time, indoor pools were closed and MLA was swimming a few days a week outdoors at he Spring Lake Country Club.

Now, with Michigan indoor pools reopened at smaller capacities, Norman, a senior at Black River, which does not have a high school team, is back home at Holland Community Aquatic Center after nearly six months.

“Honestly, I was sweating that first day back,” Norman said. “Pools are super important to me and I kind of took it for granted all of this time. But I am really appreciative to get back in.”

Especially being with her MLA teammates. Without a high school team, club swimming is her only team.

“I feel like the club is all I have right now. I am doing online school and this is my big thing,” Norman said. “Being around everyone who is going through the same situation has been good. Relating to all of them is nice knowing you are not alone, especially since I don’t have a high school to train with. So I am kind of leaning on all the kids I have known for the past couple years.”

This year, many of the swimmers are leaning on Norman, one of MLA’s veteran swimmers and a junior national qualifier headed to swim at Alabama next year.

“One of the biggest things we have challenged her with is impacting someone else on the team. That has been a new role for her. That is pretty neat. She gets to finally pay it forward to the group just like the older girls did for her,” MLA coach Jim Whitehead said.

Norman said it has been a long road since the shutdown in March.

“At first, we were not able to get in the pool at all. We were all discouraged and lacking that sense of motivation. Obviously, know one knew what was going to happen,” she said. “We were able to get time in a country club, which was awesome, but it was also a 45-minute drive. So that took a lot of time out of the day. But it was perfect for us to get back in some sort of pool. We swam there for a few weeks. We had a couple of 6 a.m. practices, so we had to get up at like 4:50.”

Those long drives are done, but it hasn’t been easy getting back into a rhythm.

“We kind of got smacked the past two weeks (with training) being back in the pool to start the season,” Norman said.

Norman was ready physically after her time in the outdoor pools as well as the training she did this summer outside the water.

“You can tell the good ones find a way to get it done. She came back in terrific shape,” Whitehead said. “You could tell she wasn’t bored during shutdown. Training-wise, I have been pleasantly surprised at where they all are. Getting something new at the beginning of the season has been fun. Physically it hasn’t been hard. That part has been mentally. You have to get something dangled out in front of them to motivate them.”

For Norman, the motivation is being ready to swim at Alabama next year.

“I feel really motivated to work on myself and my swimming,” she said. “Knowing that I can go 4-5 months without a pool and how much that affected me mentally, I have come to a whole new appreciation of the sport and how much effort I have put into the sport.”

— Follow Sports Editor Dan D’Addona on Twitter @DanDAddona and Facebook @Holland Sentinel Sports.