Anxious freshmen and veteran seniors alike adjust their caps and prepare for the first meet of the long season. With a forceful “GO!” the athletes plunge into the pool. Swift strokes and fast pulls serve the team well, and all competitors are left in their wake.
This past Saturday, September 24th, the Jesuit swim team competed in their first meet of the season. The competition took place at the Knights of Columbus Pool in Lake Highlands, and Johm Paul II, Bishop Lynch, Ursuline, and Nolan Catholic were all invited. Jesuit dominated the meet, with the blue team earning first place, and the gold team finishing with the second most points. Many of the swimmers were freshmen or first year members of the swim team, and for them, the meet was a nice introduction to the competitive scene after weeks of practice.
Many of the upperclassman swimmers spoke highly of both the freshmen and first year team members. Jake Carlson ’18 commented on how the meet “really shows that the freshmen are superior in a lot of ways,” speaking to their work ethic and commitment to the team. Josh Betanzos ’18 added that “all of [the] swimmers swam well,” and that this first meet “is always a good meet for the freshmen swimmers who are trying to get used to swimming for a high school team.” Noah Nguyen, another junior, said, “It was awesome to see lots of new swimmers swim for the first time.” Truly, the young members of the team show a lot of promise and secure the future success of the program.
Although Jesuit won the meet by a large score of points and all swam well, there were a few who were particularly outstanding. Jake Carlson ’18 was extremely impressed with Junior Josh Betanzos’ performance saying, “Josh did a spectacular job in the meet due to the work he put in everyday;” in addition, he mentioned Alex Segal ’18, declaring that “his continued dedication to practice inspired each swimmer to work as hard as possible in order to achieve their goals.” Eamon Stack ’17 commented that he was “impressed by Michael Kaufman ’20,” who swam a 27 second 50 free.
The Jesuit swim team looks to do great things this year, and an outstanding first meet certainly would not suggest otherwise. The Rangers will compete in their second meet this upcoming Saturday, October 31st.
Noah Nguyen ’18 concluded: “I love this team.”
