Despite the loss of key swimmers in the class of 2011, senior Ian Burns and his brother, freshman Aidan Burns,led the varsity team through the season. At CCS, which occurred May 11-12 at the Santa Clara Swim Center, the Falcons took 10th overall, with Ian taking first in the 100-yard freestyle and third in the 50-yard freestyle. Aidan, on the other hand, placed third in the 500-yard freestyle and 10th in the 100-yard backstroke.
“[Winning the 100-yard freestyle] was a great way to end [Ian’s] high school season career,” coach Kristen Thomson said.
The varsity boys also took fourth overall at the League Championships meet, which was held May 2-4 at Lynbrook High. The Falcons’ 3-3 league record—with three wins against Gunn, Homestead and Lynbrook—mark the team’s improvement from last year’s 1-5 season record.
Other CCS individual swimmers included sophomores Cameron Borch (200- and 500-yard freestyles) and Sasha Samoilov (50-yard freestyle), freshman Randy Tsai (100-yard backstroke and 200-yard IM) and junior Michael Lee (100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard IM). This year will be the first time any of the four went to CCS.
“After I got [my cut in the 200-yard freestyle], I couldn’t stop smiling,” Borch said. “Just the whole day, I was really happy.”
Additionally, the 200-yard medley, 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle relay teams also qualified to swim at CCS. The medley relay team of Aidan, Lee, Tsai and Ian placed ninth, winning the consolation-finals heat. Aidan, sophomore Mitch Miller, Samoilov and Ian also earned 11th place in the 400-freestyle relay.
As in in previous years, Saratoga’s team lacks the “depth”—the sheer quantity of swimmers that score points by placing in the top 16 at meets like CCS—that teams like Bellarmine’s benefit from, according to Thomson. Nonetheless, she said speed and point totals are not everything.
“The team is more than just fast swimmers,” Thomson said. “A team is really about commitment, loyalty, hard work, respect and, when it comes down to it, having fun. I would say that sometimes our favorite swimmers are the ones that just work so hard. They might have some of the slowest times, but they make it worthwhile coming to practice every single day.”
In future years, Thomson and coach Christian Bonner envision a strong team, despite losing the graduating seniors.
“Ian’s going to be graduating this year, but other than that, the reality is our team is a young team,” Bonner said. “We have the potential of getting a couple of really good freshmen in, depending upon where they go to school.”
Thomson added, “Our times aren’t going to be as good, but from the start we’ve always said speed is great, but what’s most important to us is respect, hard work, good ethics. Even though we might lose the speed, I don’t think we’re going to lose the spirit and just the overall character of the group. And so, for that, I’m very thankful.”