Paly’s boys’ swim team plans to train hard after defeating Lynbrook High School in a dual meet at Paly on Friday, 98-81.
“The guys [Paly] did a nice job,” head coach Danny Dye said. “We’re in a phase of heavier training at practice, and they swam through that. I’m happy with their swims today.”
Senior co-captains Mark Higgins and Tim Wenzlau, as well as freshman Byron Sanborn and junior Ian Schubert, helped lead the team to victory, according to Dye.
Higgins placed first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1 minute, 44.71 seconds. Higgins was followed by senior co-captain Jamie Nakamura, who finished the race in 1:53.37 and took second place.
Higgins also placed first in the 100-yard freestyle, with a time of 48.32 seconds. Sophomore Arseniy Kotov placed second in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing the race in 51.91 seconds.
Wenzlau placed second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.52 seconds. He finished less than a tenth of a second behind Lynbrook junior Joshua Chen, who won the race with a time of 22.46 seconds.
Wenzlau also finished first in the 100-yard backstroke, with a time of 57.16 seconds.
Schubert finished second in the 100-yard butterfly, with the Central Coast Section [CCS] qualifying time of 56.53 seconds.
“I thought it was a good swim,” Schubert said. “I’m proud of it.”
Sanborn finished first in both the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard breaststroke at 2:02.41 and 1:03.42, respectively.
The meet finished with a close 400-yard freestyle relay. Higgins, Wenzlau, Kotov, and Sanborn swam on Paly’s A-relay team. Higgins started the relay off, and gained an early lead. Paly was ahead for most of the race, but Lynbrook’s swimmers sped ahead in the final yards of the race, taking first. Lynbrook’s team finished with a time of 3:19.69, just ahead of the Vikings, who finished in 3:20.08.
“Overall, we [Paly] did very well,” junior Emerson Shiang said, “but because of the cold, windy weather, we did a little worse than we would have.”
The Vikings’ victory over Lynbrook is largely due to the combined efforts of the entire team, according to Dye.
Higgins agrees.
“We worked well as a team,” Higgins said.
The team plans to continue working hard at practice in order to face future challenges.
“The meet went pretty well, considering that it was our first meet after spring break,” senior Thomas Cho said. “The important thing now is to train hard for when we face Saratoga — our next big challenge.”
The Vikings will compete against Saratoga High School later in April, after facing off against cross-town rival Gunn High School in its next dual meet. The Paly boys’ swim team will compete against Gunn after school on Wednesday, at Paly.
“I feel comfortable [going into the dual meet against Gunn],” Dye said. “I think we’re in a good position.”