Eight Wolverine swimmers competed to wrap up their season at CIF Finals May 17 at the Riverside Aquatics Center. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams finished with overall records of 5-2. The girls’ squad went 4-1 in league and the boys’ finished 3-2.
“CIF Finals were historically fast this year,” head coach Jon Carroll said. “As a testament, four national high school records were set.”
Despite tough competition, the Wolverines closed their season with strong races.
Co-captain Colin Lynch ’14 won the B Final in the 100m backstroke and set a school record with his 46.71 relay lead-off in the 100m free.
In the boys’ 100m breaststroke A Final, Alex Hsing ’16 placed seventh and John Copses ’14 placed ninth. Henry Copses ’14 placed 16th in the 500m free. The team of Bryanna Lee ’15, Helen Miles ’16, Sydney Wong ’14 and Claudia Wong ’18 placed 17th in the girls 200m free relay.
“It was the first time we had all been to CIF Finals and just being able to swim at such a fast meet was a great experience,” Lee said. “We were all really proud of ourselves and we came out knowing that we could do this again next year and improve even more.”
The journey to CIF Finals resulted in a number of new school records. At Mission League Championships, Claudia Wong set a record with a 1:56.97 in the 200m free.
Five school records fell at CIF Prelims as Lynch swam 50.74 in the 100m backstroke, Johnny Hooper ’15 raced in the 50m free with a time of 21.37, Hsing swam the 100m breaststroke in 56.45, the boys’ 200 medley relay with Lynch, Copses, Andy Liu ’14 and John Chu ’15 swam 1:34.87 and the boys’ 400 free relay with Lynch, Henry Copses, Hooper and Chu took the record in 3:09.48.
“We did not do anything especially different this year,” Carroll said. “We continue to try and offer our athletes the maximum opportunities to train and improve on their skills. More athletes took advantage of those opportunities this year, particularly a.m. workouts at the start of the season, and it paid dividends.”
The small changes the Wolverines made this season made a significant impact. Swimmers also saw an increase in organization that they felt the team lacked in earlier years.
“This year was more organized than previous years,” Lee said. “Coach Carroll did a good job of guiding people through the swim season, especially for those who were new at the sport.”
Although the program will lose its veteran seniors, the team is hopeful for success.
“I feel pretty good about the future of the team,” Henry Copses said. “We still have many of my club teammates there, as well as other fast swimmers. I think in the future we should be able to have continued success in the pool.”
As the Wolverines prepare for next season, Carroll said he looks to Claudia Wong and Lee on the girls’ side to have a chance to make individual CIF events next year and Hsing and Hooper on the boys’ side.
