Still trying to find the right balance between young and old, the Wolverine swim team has fallen short in its first two meets by a combined 59 points for the boys and 42 for the girls.

In swimming and diving, tiny, meticulous details can be the difference between a big win and a big loss, swimmer Sean Jung ’16 said.

“In a race where only a couple seconds matter, the dive can make or break a race,” Jung said.

Even while paying attention to the small details, some swimmers hope that hard work in practice will eventually pay dividends, said swimmer Brennan Lee ’17.

“This year, we’ve had a lot more committed swimmers,” Lee said. “So people have been showing up to practice a lot more, so there have been lots of improvements and we’re really excited to see how things play out.”

Against Orange Lutheran March 3, the boys lost by 39 points, and the girls lost by 41 points. Against Notre Dame March 12, the boys lost by 20, while the girls lost by just one point. With four Mission League meets left in the season, the team can only hope the upward development continues.

Both underclassmen and upperclassmen are shining on the varsity level, with Claudia Wong ’17 anchoring freestyle and butterfly races for the girls, and captain John Chu ’15 anchoring the 100-meter freestyle and backstroke races for the boys.

“The captains are really great this year,” Wong said. “They’re really trying to reach out and trying to help the younger kids. Swimming is a good sport because we can use anyone. Even the slowest kid on the team is also really valuable, because every single point counts.”

After spring break, transfers Wesley Chang ’17, Haunani Bautista ’17 and Marcus Tse ’17 will have finished waiting out the CIF’s required one-month transition period for athletes who transferred schools.

“When we come back, I’m excited to see the energy we can bring to the team, especially in relays,” Chang said.