The boys’ and girls’ swim teams started off the season with the first annual Justin E. Carr Relays March 1 held in honor of teammate Justin Carr who died in February last year. After the Carr Relays, the teams both hold a 2-1 record and many swimmers have already qualified for CIF which will be held towards he end of the season.
“We started off with the Justin Carr Memorial Meet which was both a lot of fun and good team bonding,” co-captain Lydia Weber ’14 said.
“I was happy we got the start we did, from all the madness you could call it, having three meets in three days,” head coach Jon Carroll said. “We got some good racing in so I really felt like I got a chance to see where everyone on the team is.”
A number of swimmers have already qualified with automatic times for CIF towards the end of the season including Colin Lynch ’14 in the 100 free, 100 fly, and 100 back, John Copses ’14 for the 100 breaststroke, Henry Copses ’14 for the 200 free and 500 free, and Alec Hsing ’16 in the 100 breaststroke.
“We have some great new talent and even some returning swimmers,” Weber said. “It will be interesting to see how it plays out, especially now that we don’t have some of our key swimmers from last year.”
“Our first few meets have gone really well especially for the boys’ team. They have won every meet so far except for our previous one against Crespi. The girls just recently beat Louisville avenging a loss from last year.” Sophia Gonzalez ’15 said.
The boys’ team won its first meet 122 – 32 against Saugus and won 117 – 53 against Orange Lutheran on March 12. The team lost to Crespi 90 – 71.
“We unfortunately lost to Crespi, but we did not bring our full squad with us, so there was the problem,” co-captain Henry Copses ’14 said. “We have some really fast guys, but having five or six fast people doesn’t win meets.”
While the girls’ team lost its first meet against Saugus 88 – 81, the Wolverines came back the next two meets with an 89 – 77 win over Orange Lutheran and a 103 – 67 win against rival school Louisville.
“Coming off this win we have high hopes for the season and are really excited for our next upcoming meets, especially on Tuesday against [Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy]/Loyola,” Bryanna Lee ’15 said. “Compared to a lot of other schools our team lacks numbers, but we’ve definitely been making up for it with good swims from both the upper and lower classmen.”
“Of the girls, Claudia Wong ’17 is a stand out,” Weber said. “She’s been swimming in some of our important A team relays like the 200 medley and the 400 free relay. She also swims the 200 free and the 500 free.”
“Other standouts would have to be sophomore Helene Miles ’16 who has an awesome 50 free,” she sad. “Sydney Wong ‘14 came back this year to swim a few high school meets, which is pretty exciting. She swims the 200 IM and 100 fly.”
“The rest of the season is looking to be pretty good,” Emma Graham ’15 said. “Hopefully some more people make their CIF cuts and we win a couple more meets and have some fun.”
“All in all pretty happy with where we are right now,” Carroll said. “I like the fact that everybody’s had a chance to get a couple races in.”
The Wolverines raced against Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and Loyola yesterday in the Copses Family Pool at Harvard-Westlake.
