Back in the Swim of Things: Swim and Dive Complete First Meets

Swim and Dive athletes give their thoughts on their first two meets of this season.

By: Fabian Anguiano

Sun screen on, forward and inward dives are getting practiced, breaststroke in the works; the swim season has finally began!

Junior Varsity Diver Elijah Peters, ’27, shares how he thinks the first two meets of the season has gone so far. “Pretty well, Hannah one of our divers got 1st for the girls so it’s going pretty well,” says Peters.

On how he performed last year, Peters says, “Pretty good. Last year I didn’t actually have most of my dives, and I did a thing over the summer so coming into this year I was a lot more prepared for the dive season.”

“I think that there is always improvement no matter what you can always be a little better at something. We still have one diver who can not compete yet but I strongly believe that he will be able to compete this year and everybody like I said we can always improve” says Peters about improvement.

Peters shared two things that excite him about this upcoming season. “Our hot tub because we just got that, and just getting to see my team and keep on improving,” says Peters.

“I would like to get my reverse dive. That is pretty much my main goal for this year,” says Peters.

Varsity swimmer Axl Menard, ’27, shared how the first two meets have gone. “They have gone great, I have done a done a personal best so far in the 100 yard butterfly, that is my favorite event,” says Menard.

“It’s the beginning of the season, so there is a lot of room for improvement with everything. We have so much more to go, so of course I can just get faster if I keep on swimming,” says Menard on improvement.

Menard also says, “I think us being in the Division 2 Valley Championships really excite[s] me, that’s really our main goal here as a swim team is to win that.”

“I got a 57 right now and I would really like to get down to like a 55 or a 54,” says Menard on a specific personal record he wants to achieve.

Variety swimmer Emily Dean, ’26, shared how she feels the first two swim meets of the season have went.

“They have gone really well, they haven’t been our best final product like we didn’t win but it’s okay, I think us points-wise and strength wise we are getting a lot better and our practices have started getting harder so I think we are really training and we hope to win D2 (Division 2) Valley this year,” says Dean.

Dean shared why she is satisfied with what she has done.

“Yeah I think I have been doing pretty well I have been improving a lot, I’m definitely PR’ing, which is breaking your personal record, in my events. I am learning a lot technique-wise and our coaches are really focusing on our strokes this year so that’s really exciting to get points in that.”

Dean proceeded to share a specific PR that she would like to achieve this season. “Last year I swam the 500 free and I want to break under 6.15, because that was my PR last year. I am thinking to drop at least drop those five seconds and I want to place first at EYL (East Yosemite League) this year,” says Dean.

Varsity diver Hannah Johnson, ’25, gave her thoughts on how the first two meets have gone.

“The first two meets of our season have gone really well. For girls, we have placed first and second at both meets,” says Johnson.

On how the team can improve as a whole, Johnson says, “We have a smaller team this year, so we all help encourage each other to improve. We only have one person on varsity so far, and I know that we will have the others move up as the season progresses.”

Johnson shared her satisfaction with the team and herself.

“I am very happy with our team’s performance so far. I have been trying some difficult dives to try and score more points for the team during meets,” says Johnson.

Johnson shared a specific PR she wants to achieve this season. “A goal of mine since I started was to break 200 points in a meet. Last meet, I scored a 199.80, so I am confident that I can achieve that soon,” says Johnson.

On her final season, Johnson says, “Honestly, going into my final season of dive is bittersweet. I am looking forward to having more time after school, but I am going to miss all of the fun times we have at practice and seeing my coach, Maddox. This is his second and final season coaching dive because he is going to become a paramedic.”

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