Walk by the school’s pool any day and one will certainly hear a combination of rock music and the splash of water– a signal that the swim season is in now in full swing at Paly.
“The strength of the team is that we have good swimmers and fast, hard workers,” coach Danny Dye said.
Dye emphasized that his team’s real strength lies in the team’s attitude and overall talent. According to Dye, there have been no personal problems and the teammates work well together.
“We have standout swimmers and we have good swimmers,” Dye said.
Practice has focused on building up strength and getting into shape for the season.
“We do a lot of yards[swimming] to build up our muscles for when the meets come,” junior swimmer Michael Fortune said.
The team looks forward to the season and hopes to go far, coming off a successful season last year. The team’s confidence has not been drenched, even with the graduation of prominent swimmers including Becky Wenzlau, Phoebe Champion, and Eric Vallone.
“We have a lot of transfers and people coming up from JV,” junior swimmer Xiamara Pinto said.
Those coming up include junior swimmer Brandon Lee.
“I was on JV last year,” Lee said “It is not as hectic since we have a pool but workouts have been more intense.”
Unlike last season, when the team could not practice in the Paly pool as it was under construction, the team can focus fully on swimming instead of spending time traveling off campus to swim. All the work is going to an attempt at a league title and perhaps a CCS championship.
According to Dye, the team practices approximately two hours a day and practices on land twice a week in the morning. According to Dye, each swimmer swims approximately 36,000 yards or 1,440 lenghts of the poll per week
I think it [the season] will go well,” Fortune said “We have some experience and a good range of people to cover all the events.”
“Our goal is to win League and the CCS championship,” Dye said. “I expect the season to be good.”
The season started on Feb. 28 with a meet with Sacred Heart and Menlo-Atherton. The meet resulted in a win for the boy’s team but a slim loss for the girl team. The team faces cross-town rival Gunn today on March 9 in a critical battle for control of the league.
“We’re going to have to rely on our relays to help us win our meets,” Fortune said.
A successful start to the season will undoubtedly put the swim team on track to CCS.
“We’re going to win leagues like we always do,” Pinto said.