Making a splash—swim team gears up for a successful season Swim team’s impressive times and attendance set stage for promising future

STORY Alice T.

PHOTO Morgan Snyder

Previously, due to the pandemic, the swim team lacked a substantial amount of swimmers. As a result, they were unable to qualify for competitions like the West Bay Athletic League (WBAL) due to a lack of swimmers, and hence, a lack of points scored—in competitions, points are awarded based on event for the fastest times, with points decreasing for subsequent times.

This year, however, the upper school team is making waves with their new coach, upper school faculty Morgan Snyder, and an escalated attendance rate of 20 motivated swimmers.

“I love seeing the swimmers in the water want to improve,” Snyder said. "They're so hungry to improve and so eager to get feedback, so I think it’s a really easy team to work with for that reason.”

The team’s first meet took place on March 11, where the strength of the swimmers was tested. Many swimmers raced for the first time, while others made their personal best time. Junior Varsity swimmer Josie B. ’25 topped the school’s record in the 50-yard butterfly.

“It was so great that everyone could get a baseline time for the season and work to build up from there,” said Captain Cherise W. ’23.

To paint a picture for the first meet, as swimmers are racing, “there's always a group of Nueva swimmers huddled around the lane, yelling at [the swimmers] ‘Go!’ and cheering,” Cherise said. “And when you're the person swimming there, even if you can't hear that well, you can feel your teammates support. And seeing them there—before and after your race—and knowing they were there to watch you is a great feeling.”

Varsity swimmer Nick Q. ’24 said, “Everyone's been training on their own, and now we're all coming together as a team to do something great.”

The team has already broken six school records as of early April.