SPHS Swimming prepares to make a splash this season

Story Jayden Tran Photos Samantha Shiroishi

The SPHS swim team has begun splashing back into the pools for their 2022-2023 seasonal meets. Having started their pre-season training earlier into the school year, the team is entering this year with determination and stride. After successes last year from swimmers qualifying for CIF participation, such as senior Jordan Mullin and sophomore Ana Mancera-Rodriguez, this year’s season has started with confidence. The first meet took place on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at Immaculate Heart; the team is prepared to debut their pre-season training that started last week. This year’s team has a set of four varsity captains, distributed to consist of two for the girls and two for the boys. The girls team is led by captains senior Jordan Mullin and sophomore Samantha Long, while the boys team is led by seniors Andrew Sakahara and Lewis Polansky On the junior varsity team, junior Lauren Kim and senior Christopher Liang help lead and prepare JV swimmers.

“Everyone comes into the pool with a positive attitude which makes me feel confident that we will have a good season,” Mullin said. “In previous years, I was an underclassman that looked up to my captains for encouragement, but now I have the privilege of being the person to uplift the team in any way I can.”

For a number of swimmers, the lack of time and aid for training outside of pre-season and during the season has become an apparent issue. Outside of participation on a club swim team, there are very few ways for some athletes to stay consistent and prepared before the start of the season.

“Pre-season has been alright for me, but it has been very physically taxing since I am not on a club team year round unlike some of the other swimmers,” junior Marlee Foster said. “The sets are hard and it’s overwhelming to balance practice everyday alongside the junior year workload.”

With the entrance of several new swimmers to the team, the dynamic of fresh talent has drastically impacted the team’s performance. This year’s 47-person swim team has been working to challenge the number of swimmers having gone down this year compared to last year.

“New swimmers are going to swim every year, and you get new people and you just don’t know how they’re going to do,” Long said. “It’s going to be exciting to see how all of the meets will play out with new swimmers participating this year.”

As the season starts, the coaches and captains continue to aid the team in preparing for their individual events.

“We have a lot of new swimmers that are showing great potential as we go into the season,” senior Andrew Sakahara said. “Our coaches and captains are working hard to get the team into shape, and as always, we’re looking forward to our meet against Temple City which usually decides our placement in the league.”

The SPHS Swim Team will be racing against St. Francis High School and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy on Tuesday, Feb. 28.