The South Hills swim team competed in their first meet of the season against Chino Hills on Feb. 24. Varsity swimmers reflected on the meet and looked ahead to what the rest of the season has in store.
After swimming in two out of his four events, team captain Eric Grigolla (12) opened up about his feelings heading into his senior year and final season with the team.
“I’m feeling very bitter-sweet, it’s my last first swim meet, but I think the vibes are really good today, I feel like everyone knows everyone in some type of way and I think that’s great,” Grigolla said.
Ashish Raj (10) reflected on what it means to be in his second year as a varsity swimmer.
“Im feeling confident today because I know I have a lot more years to go in high school and I have a lot of room for progress, this meet is going to tell me where I’m at and where I need to improve,” Raj said.
As the meet drew closer, second-year varsity swimmer Nathan Zamora (10) described how he felt and the ways he prepared leading up to the competition.
“I’ve been super excited anticipating this and counting the days. To prepare I’ve mostly just been eating right and keeping it clean and I’ve been going to the gym everyday,” Zamora said.
Nerves are common heading into a first competition, but senior Alex Rasmussen shared how his feelings shifted from before the meet to the moment he hit the water, after swimming his first event the 100-yard freestyle. Alex has enjoyed his time in swimming despite joining the team during his Junior year at South Hills.
“At first I was feeling a little nervous, [my] heart was beating a little, but getting in the water definitely calms and soothes you down, especially on a hot day,” Rasmussen said.
Jayden Phan (11) looked back on both his individual performance and how the team performed as a whole.
“I think it was pretty fun. I’m looking to drop more time and be better, and I think that overall the team was pretty nervous, but once the meet started going, everyone did well enough, but I think that we could always do better,” Phan said.
