The varsity boys swim team this year has its strongest team in the past four years, senior swim captain Kai Pham said. We have a very good class of freshmen this year, Pham added.
We struggled to make our sectional cut last year, and we didn’t make it until the very end of the season, Pham said. They play in CCS (Central Coast Section), which is a sectional time where you have to qualify and race there, Pham said. This year, we already got it by three seconds, Pham added.
“We’ve won three of our four meets, which is a lot better than last year,” Pham said. “Last year we only won, I think, two of six.”
Even with this current success, the team still faces challengeshas challenges that they are facing, Pham said.
“The biggest challenge our team is facing, at least for varsity boys, is that we want to make state,” Pham said. “We’re trying to make a state qualifying cut, but that’s pretty difficult, and we’re going to have to work a lot harder to see if we can try to reach it.”
Senior Nakul Warrier believes that the practices are difficult, but are doable.
“We normally have a schedule of a freestyle day on Monday, a mixed stroke day on Tuesday,” Warrier said. “We’ll have practice races on Wednesday, and then we’ll have an easy day, or like a rest day, on Thursday to prepare for the meet.”
Along with the overall team’s goals, Warrier also has some personal goals for this season.
“My personal goals for this season is probably just do well at CCS and do well at leagues,” Warrier said. “I want to try to stay in the first heat for finals, and try to place well overall as a team.”
Sophomore Aarjav Jain believes that even though swimming is an individual sport, the team aspect still applies.
“During practice, the team is what provides you with the motivation to keep going,” Jain said. “If you’re all alone, you get really bored, and start to lose interest. But at least with the team, you can push each other to keep going.”
Jain prepares for the meets by making sure that the practices that lead up to the meets are good practices, he said.
“You make sure that you’re not feeling rusty in any way, and you also make sure that the day of [the meet] and the day before that you’re not feeling too tired,” Jain said. “You’re basically at your energy peak.”
My favorite part about the swim team is that there is never a dull moment, Jain said.
“There’s always something going on that basically keeps practice interesting,” Jain said.