Swimming: Swim team holds chin high after defeat against Monta Vista

The swim team gathered around in a huddle, leaning their heads inwards. After an enthusiastic roar of “Toga!” the JV girls rushed up to the starting blocks to begin the Monta Vista away meet on April 1.

Although the team felt prepared for the meet, JV and varsity girls lost to Monta Vista 199-50 and 94-85 respectively and JV and varsity boys lost 106-70 and 124-56 respectively.
The number of Monta Vista girls lined up dwarfed the number of Saratoga girls. This obvious difference in numbers is not something new for this season and has inevitably led to Falcon defeats

“We do not have enough girls to win more points. We almost won in every event, but since Monta Vista had more people, they earned more points,” senior backstroker Debbie Lin said. “I know that if [the girls’ swim team] had more swimmers, then we wouldn’t have lost.”

To make matters worse, the Monta Vista meet was also senior day.

“I felt kind of bad because it was our senior day and we were not able to beat them,” Lin said.

According to junior Rod Jafari, the boys’ swim team’s senior day was “light-hearted and fun.” The traditions include making posters and shirts for the seniors and giving them roses. Jafari’s favorite moment occured when freshman Steven Cho rapped an original comedic rap to senior Will Tang.

Another memorable event was the Swim-a-Thon, which took place at Saratoga High on April 9. The swim team and coaches swam laps to donate to the Japan tsunami. See more information on the Swim-a-Thon in the News section.

The team also competed at Los Gatos on April 21. The JV and varsity girls lost to Los Gatos 132-50 and 99-86, respectively. The varsity boys also lost 125-60. However, the JV boys managed to secure a victory 113-63.

The swim team has had a rough season so far because of obstacles they cannot control—namely, team size. However Lin remains optimistic despite the difficulties. This attitude applies to the other swimmers, showing true sportsmanship and devotion to swimming.

“As long as we keep improving and cheering each other on, I know that this year will be just as good as the last, if not even better,” she said.