Wakefield Swim and Dive had great success from the start and now they finished strong. They qualified for States after a miraculous victory at Regionals. One of the biggest accomplishments was after losing for a few seasons straight, they WON their meet on Senior Night…with a total of 18 seniors being honored. What a great way to end their last season at Wakefield.

This success did not come overnight. The swim team put in some hours to get where they are working hard, while the other teams were sleeping. They had many early morning weight lifting sessions, followed by yoga, and a few tough swim workouts, all well before noon. On top of that, every day throughout the week they had practice after school. Outside of the pool, the team also worked on bonding and communication. With a weekly pasta social that made for a tighter squad and prepared them for the upcoming meet.

Wakefield Swim has the best sportsmanship of any sport. They cheer each other on between races and pick their teammates (and opponents) up when they are down, but don’t take their kindness for weakness…our swim team is not playing around. Before every single meet, the whole team leapt into the pool and chanted songs while splashing the water to make the most noise, in hopes of intimidating their opponents. No other sports teams do this as well as Swim and Dive.

This year, the Swim team was made up of mostly seniors. After 3 years of competing in high school swim, it was time to put up or shut up. Senior Katherine Brophy said “You practice every day, then you have a meet, then another meet, but Senior Night is like reflecting on everything you did.” This shows what an emotional night this was for the seniors.

For about 8 years, Wakefield Swim hasn’t won a meet as a team, but this year they did. Kate Williams won her relay by “dropping 9 seconds off of my I.M.” Which means she swam 9 seconds faster than she ever did in an individual race. Another great female swimmer, sophomore Emily Andrews (according to the members of the swim team) can give the boys on any swim team a run for their money, so the future is bright for Swim and Dive. Matea Mladenovic said, “What really got me going was seeing everyone else trying their hardest…and it was the team that really help me get into states.” After qualifying for states he didn’t attribute his success to himself only, but to the whole team that gave him the motivation to win; he is a true Warrior.

The Swim and Dive team made their mark on States this year as well. It was a memorable season. Congratulate these STATE athletes:

DIVE

1st Place – Boys Diving – STATE Champion – Justin Clark

3rd Place – Boys Diving – Jack Kumashiro

5th Place – Girls Diving – Antonia Kotliarov

8th Place – Girls diving – Anne Kumashiro

SWIM

10th Place – Boys 100 Free – Matea Mladenovic

21st Place – Girls 100 Fly – Emily Andrew