By Jonah Rosenbaum
Despite the loss of several key seniors from last yearâs team, the girlsâ swimming team has begun the season with a 3-1 overall record and a 2-0 league record.
“Going 2-1 to start the season is a really good accomplishment, especially when you consider all the adjustments weâve had to make,” Marisa Berger â10 said. “This is supposed to be a rebuilding year. 13 swimmers graduated last year and 16 the year before that. We lost a lot of heavy hitters, but weâre relying on consistent performances from our seniors which weâve been getting and a lot of juniors have really improved,” Berger said.
In addition to the loss of so many players, the girls and boys team practice together for the first time ever, and are under the leadership of the same coach, Darlene Bible.
“I thought that might be a tough adjustment but itâs worked really well and we really enjoy practicing with the guys and pushing each other,” Berger said.
Last year the girlsâ team was moved up to Division I, making the times necessary to qualify for CIF even more competitive.
“Weâre just going to try to qualify as many girls as possible and see where that takes us,” Berger said.
The boysâ swimming team is 4-0 overall and 2-0 in league after a 92-78 victory over rival Crespi.
“The Crespi win was huge. Weâre not as deep as we were last year so everyone really needs to work hard and thatâs happening for us so far. A lot of different guys are stepping up,” Danny Fujinaka â10 said.
The team has five more dual meets remaining to go with one invitational, but Fujinaka pointed to the teamâs April 15 clash with rival Loyola as the meet that the whole team has their eyes on.
“Loyola is not just one of the top teams in the state, they are probably one of the best teams in the nation,” Fujinaka said. “They have a lot of depth so we need our best effort from everyone on the team.”