The Blue Waves swim team traveled to Delta State University on Sept. 24 for the Cleveland Last Chance meet, their fourth meet this season, where 12 swimmers qualified for North Half, held on Oct. 4.
The team competed in 15 events throughout the day, with several podium placements and new personal bests. The relay teams were a strong standout, with the Goen 200-yard freestyle relay A team winning first place and both the Frazer and Goen 200-yard medley relay A teams claiming third. The Goen medley relay B team beat their seed time by almost 10 seconds.
Junior Katie Chung placed first in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:43.16, while juniors Samantha Diamond and Maya Venkat claimed first and third in 100-yard breaststroke, respectively. Junior Daniel Hu placed second in both the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard backstroke. Chung won third place and senior Cassie van Riessen took fourth in the 100-yard backstroke. Junior Cathy Shao earned second place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:14.73.
Junior Maya Jacobsen said the six-hour round trip to Cleveland was a great opportunity to bond with the team.
“The meets are fun, especially on the bus when we can just hang out. This is my first time doing swim, and I really like the people who are on my team,”Jacobsen said.
Jacobsen is one of the 12 swimmers who qualified for the next meet at North Half.
“I’m very excited [for North Half],” Jacobsen said. “I am going to continue going to practices and hopefully get my time down.”
As the season heats up, the Blue Waves continue to train and prepare for North Half and the state meet, but van Riessen said practice isn’t just about strength and endurance training.
“[Getting] enough rest has been just as important as training leading up to [the state meet],” van Riessen said.
