Conference Meet Wrap-Up

Written by Chelsea (soph)

May 11, 2008

Coming into this season your girl’s swim team had only lost once in the last four years (a dual meet vs. Marin Academy in 2006) and had been BAC champions for four consecutive seasons.  After going undefeated for the entire 2008 regular season, our team hoped to clinch the Championship title for the fifth straight year.

The boys’ team was hoping to finish ahead of several teams that they lost to during the regular season. Their small size and relative inexperience (only one returning swimmer) has made it hard for them to beat much larger teams. However, the Championship format presented a fresh opportunity for the boys to show their strength (speed).

The festivities began on Friday May 9th. Your swimmers rose early to prepare for tacky prom (a swim team tradition). They dawned sparkling corsages, ruffled shirts, revolting dresses, and even maternity pants. The team partied its way through the school day and then boarded two buses headed for After Prom, or should I say swim practice. After completing their final workout of the regular season your College Prep swim team streamed into the locker room for a long awaited shave down. After an hour filled with shaving cream and disposable razors the swimmers filed out with smooth appendages which they hoped would slip through the water with unrivaled ease.

Saturday, May 10th. 6:45 AM:
The College Prep swim team began its journey from the CPS parking lot to the Mills College Pool, not only the site of the 2008 BAC Championships, but also the very pool in which our team trains five days a week. Your swimmers itched with anticipation and gathered round for our final team cheer of the season.

At 9:00 AM sharp the meet began with the girls 200 Medley relay. The A team (Julie, Jenny, Sara, Sterling) won fourth place overall (2:02.42) for 22 points. The next event for the girls was the 200 yd Free. Sophie took 6th place (2:14.54) for 9 points and Micaela won 5th with a season best time (2:14.35). Both accomplished this even with nagging shoulder injuries. Alice took this race out hard, swimming her 1st 100 in just 59.3 seconds. She was neck in neck with the leader throughout the race and only finished 7/10ths of a second after her. Alice hit the wall with a final time of 2:02.92, winning second place for 13 points and shattering the old school record! Congratulations Alice! After that came the 200 Yd IM. College prep took 4th, 5th and 6th (Sterling, Julie, Sara) for a total of 30 points and a few personal bests! Jenny and Emily took 7th and 8th in the 50 yd Free for 12 points total. Emily swam  a personal best of 27.87 and Carol swam a lifetime best of 41.97! After that came the 100 Fly in which Alice won 2nd overall, Michelle tied for 4th and Sara captured 8th for a total of 28.5 points. The girls continued their fast races with the 100 yd freestyle, capturing 5th, 6th, and 9th  (Callie, Chelsea, Emily) for 23 points. Carol, Chelsea and Emily swam lifetime bests and Emily was able to shave 2 seconds off of her previous time. Michelle and Callie won 2nd and 4th in the 500 free for 24 points! The girls 200 Free relay (Jenny, Emily, Callie, Alice) won 2nd for 26 points and the B relay (Micaela, Cat, Chelsea, Sophie) won 8th, beating 6 A teams! Next Micaela and Julie took 3rd and 4th in the 100 Back for 24 points. Cat swam a personal best in the 100 Breast (1:32.63), Sterling captured 5th after coming off a serious knee injury and Jenny captured the entire event with persisting shoulder problems! Finally the meet came to a close for the girls with the A and B 400 Free relays capturing 3rd and 4th (Michelle, Sterling, Callie, Alice; Sara, Sophie, Micaela, Julie). The A relay swam a season best of 3:57.77.

On the boy’s side the 200 Medley relay won 7th (Ryan, Jon, Brett, Grant). Jon (personal best of 2:05.86) and Grant took 4th and 7th in the 200 Free for 18 points. Brett won 6th in the 200 IM with a personal best of 2:31.48. Adarsha swam a personal best in the 50 yd free style (32.19). Ryan took 7th in the 100 free with a personal best of 55.74. Jon took 8th in the 500 Free with a personal best of 5:40.9. To finish the meet the 400 free relay (Grant, Jon, Brett, Ryan) took 4th with the entire team cheering them on.

Finally the results were ready to be announced. The team was in the water taking pictures with underwater cameras and waiting in anticipation as the results were read. The boys team won 6th place finishing ahead of 2 teams which they lost to during the regular season. As Tran announced the girls results the team grabbed each other’s hands and held their breath. The winner of the BAC Championships for the fifth year in a row is College Prep by a margin of 87.5 points! This puts their record over the last five years at 51-1 and was truly a team effort.

I am so proud to be a member of this team. Thank you CPS swimmers for such a wonderful season.