Varsity Swim Crushes Loomis Chaffee
By: Chelsea Zhao, Lauren Kim
On Dec. 11, both girls’ and boys’ varsity swim teams won against the Loomis Chaffee School with scores of 107-75 and 101-85 respectively. This was the first in-person meet in nearly two years.
The swim teams found general success in all events, and performed especially excellently in the relays. “We went into the last three events of the meet nearly tied, but we had an awesome 1-2-3 sweep in the 100 breaststroke to pull us ahead,” senior and girls’ varsity swim captain Lindsay Machado said.
“The relays were somewhat interesting this year because almost each team that entered contained a mix of grades. We did great, especially in the 400 free relay at the end of the meet, which we swept to clinch our win,” fellow senior and girls’ varsity swim captain Ginny Vazquez said.
To prep Lang Guo, the relays made the entire competition. “I could not have asked for a better season opener,” Guo said.
The meet was a bonding experience for the team, especially for the underclassmen. “Preps Sophie Phelps, Brianna Cong, and Claire Han did so well for their first high school meets, all three of them winning their events against fast seniors from Loomis,” Vazquez said, celebrating her underclassmen teammates.
“As a captain, it’s always pretty fun seeing one of the preps win their race because then you get to yell the: ‘She’s a freshman’ from the other side of the pool… It really sends a message: We're strong this year, but we’re only going to get stronger from here,” Vazquez added.
Upper Ethan Van de Water agreed. “We have a very young team, and for most of the preps and lowers, it was their first high school dual meet ever! It is always good to start off the season on a high note, as it incentivizes everyone to work hard in practices with the goal of continually improving,” Van de Water said.
Coach Meg Blitzshaw applauded the support from seniors. “We have splendid leadership from our senior tri-captains and I am excited to see what lies ahead for this team that is bursting with potential.”
Lower Ellie Wang shared that the meet allowed her to connect more deeply with her upperclassmen teammates. “It felt wonderful to cheer on their races and be cheered on. I love the support from everyone all around and I think it sets the tone for future meets to come!” E. Wang said.
Prep Winston Wang agreed. “To be able to come together as a team in a mainly individual sport and to win was definitely a booster in terms of team dynamics,” W. Wang said.
Overall, captains considered this meet a fantastic start to the season. “I'm very excited for the rest of this season and looking forward to training and racing as a team,” senior and girls’ varsity swim captain Sydney Kang said.
“I am insanely proud of the performance of all our swimmers. We cheered a lot for each other and set a strong precedent for the rest of the year,” senior and boys’ varsity swim captain George Venci concluded.
