Swim team ended their season at the Montview League Finals, held Friday, May 8th at Sierra Vista high school. Several swimmers participated in medal rounds this year.

Ernesto Batres competed in three medal round races: 50 yards freestyle, 100 yards butterfly, and in the 400 yards freestyle relay race. Christian Guzman, Bladimir Balanzar, and Alexis Ayala also competed with Batres in the relay. Amber Segura participated in a medal round for the 100 yards freestyle race.

Unfortunately, nobody on the team met the time requires to qualify to compete in CIF.

Stephanie Meza and Alexis Ayala raced in 100 yard backstroke events. Ayala, the swim team captain and four-year swimmer helped lead the team through a pleasant season.

“Being able to see the smile on their face after winning a race is the greatest feeling I’ve had as a captain this season.”

Hariana Herrera, Amber Segura, Carla Segura, and Stephanie Meza competed in the 400 yards freestyle event. Relays, whether they’re medley relays or freestyle, are an important part of the swim meet, because it is the only time multiple swimmers compete in one race, allowing the swim team to unite as a team.

“My teammates push me and others to do the best… we are friends who have come so far”, recollects freshman Hariana Herrera.

The swim team’s greatest success this season was defeating Duarte April 16th. Historically, Duarte has been our team to beat, and this year, our team swam just a bit harder to take the win.

Next year, we are predicted to have a stronger swim team. Many of this year’s seniors were first-year swimmers, leaving room for improvement for next year, as we will start the next season with more experienced swimmers.

“We’re losing some of our seniors – but there’s enthusiastic underclassmen ready to take the lead.”, foresees coach Stanzione.

Although there’s a lot of underclassmen, bigger teams have the advantage at swim meets, therefore next year there is a need to recruit many athletes for the team. More swimmers allows the team to compete in more events, and therefore score more points at meets.

Coach Stanzione reminds us, “The key to winning is putting in yardage, working on your stroke, and wanting to win.”