For the second year in a row, the boys varsity swim team qualified for the annual California Interscholastic Federation Central Coast Section (CIF-CCS) Championship, according to team captain senior Howard Chen. Qualifying for both the men’s 200 medley relay and men’s 200 freestyle relay, the team ended their season in 55th place of the 60 teams at the section preliminaries, according to swimcloud.com.
The qualifying relayers were team captain senior Howard Chen, senior Tao Chong, senior Aaron Nguyen, junior Andre Garcia-De Leon, and sophomore Kai Pham, Nguyen said.
The team followed a regimen that spanned the entire season and led up to the league finals in order to earn their qualification, Chen said.
“We were experimenting throughout all the meets to see who had the fastest time, and then we tested our best bet for qualification at leagues,” Chen said. “At that point, we tapered, lessening our swim amounts and getting a little bit more rest to swim our best at leagues. We shaved and wore tech suits to be the fastest we could, and just threw the fastest guys on the team to the relay and hoped we would get the time.”
While getting the right time is an individual battle, the relay with three other hardworking swimmers reminds Nguyen that it’s a team effort, Nguyen said.
“The connection with the team felt stronger because we were all striving to get that CCS time,” Garcia-De Leon said. “This year, we could actually try for two events and everybody really worked hard for that qualification.”
This season the morale was high and the goals were clear, which was reflected in its performance, Chong said.
“Qualifying for and swimming at CCS has always been one of the greatest goals I’ve set for myself in high school, so being able to finally make it in my final year has been such a rewarding experience,” Chong said. “I finally get a sense of accomplishment and feel that the work I put in has paid off.
Unlike last year, the team learned the importance of navigating the mental game of swimming with help from teammates, Nguyen said. Nguyen made a conscious effort to praise everyone, especially underclassmen, he said.
“When we make sure people are always having fun, we can be more sure of success,” Nguyen said. “I wanted to swim in the first place because I saw my brother making friends and improving his technique, and I really wanted the swim team to feel like a place we all were improving.”
After qualifying for CCS, the team was realistic on their odds for qualifying for the finals and decided to enjoy their time at the championship by giving everyone a chance to swim, Chen said.
“Since only 16 out of 60 teams can qualify for day two of CCS, we already knew that we were just there to have fun and represent the school,” Chen said. “Our coach let whoever didn’t get to swim at leagues swim at CCS, so everyone had fun. In the future, the team can start aiming higher and trying to qualify for the top 16. They are capable.”
Both Chen and Garcia-De Leon were a part of the CCS relay team last year and decided to allow underclassmen to take their spot and swim at the preliminaries, Chen said. Since one day’s timed computer reading can be the difference between being a part of the CCS relay or not, Chen and Garcia-De Leon decided to take it into their hands to recognize their teammates’ hard work.
“We chose the swimmers for the event with the computers’ fastest times on one day,” Garcia-De Leon said. “But honestly, that sophomore (Nakul Warrier) that I gave it to, I felt like he was working harder than I was, and I just got it because I had a faster time on the computer once.”
For Chen, it was an obvious choice to give his spot to Justin Lee, a freshman, who he wanted to recognize for his consistent, hard work, he said.
“Last year, I got to see the two seniors I’ve been swimming with since I was a freshman just end off their whole career on a high note at CCS, and I think that qualification meant more to me,” Chen said. “This year qualifying felt like a reaffirmation as a swimmer, but I knew I wanted to give opportunities to other people.”