The Paly boys’ swim team defeated cross-town rival Gunn High School on Thursday at Paly, 140-46.
“There were good swims all around,” head coach Danny Dye said. “There were fast times in the events we needed them. We are getting into a good position for our meet against Saratoga next week — the biggest dual meet of the year.”
The meet kicked off with the 400-yard medley relay, in which the Vikings placed first and second. Senior co-captain Tim Wenzlau swam first, junior Ian Schubert, freshman Rollin Lau, and freshman Byron Sanborn placed first with a combined time of 1 minute, 45.90 seconds. Senior co-captain Jamie Nakamura, senior Jeremy Kim, junior Emerson Shiang, and sophomore DJ Fotsch took second place with a combined time of 1:53.77.
The Paly boys swept the 200-yard freestyle. Sophomore Arseniy Kotov finished with a time of 1:51.65 and took first place. Behind Kotov was Wenzlau, who placed second with a time of 1:51.76. Junior Bobby Abbott took third place with a time of 1:53.76.
“I felt pretty good until the end,” Kotov said of his race. “It felt invigorating.”
Abbott took first in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:05.29. The time qualifies Abbott for the Central Coast Section meet.
“I improved a lot thanks to all my hard work in practice,” Abbott said.
Paly then went on to sweep the 100-yard backstroke. Senior co-captain Mark Higgins took first with a time of 56.79 seconds. Higgins was followed by freshman Charles Zhang in second place and Nakamura in third, with times of 1:01.77 and 1:01.99, respectively.
Paly closed out the meet with first and second place finishes in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Senior Thomas Cho, Higgins, Fotsch, and Kotov placed first with a combined time of 3:35.82, followed closely by Lau, Abbott, Shiang, and Sanborn in second place, with a combined time of 3:35.94.
“We dominated Gunn,” Shiang said. “D-O-M-I-N-A-T-E-D.”
The Vikings are preparing for their upcoming meet against Saratoga High School, the most important dual meet of the season, according to Dye. The meet will take place after school on Wednesday at Saratoga High School.
“I think the team can win,” Dye said. “They just need to be prepared to swim fast.”