Boys’ swimming remains strong

With the spring sports season charging into full speed, boys’ swimming team encounters a few new changes. Along with returning coaches Christian Bonner and Kristen Thomson, Brett Slayton, Courtney Crase and Heather Bridges will join the staff.

Several new members, such as freshman Sasha Samilov and Mitch Miller, will also add their prowess to the team.

“[Miller] will be a good addition because he’s a good short distance swimmer, just like [Samilov] is,” Bonner said.

Key swimmers this year, however, remains the same as last year with seniors Adam Hinshaw and Justin Chung and junior Ian Burns, according to Bonner.

Hinshaw will most likely swim distance freestyle and possibly the individual medley (IM). Chung will swim the 100 yard backstroke and the short distance freestyles. Burns can “swim pretty much anything,” Bonner said. “It’s really going to depend upon what the other teams look like this year.”

Tough opponents are the usual suspects: Los Gatos and Palo Alto.

“Los Gatos [is a major opponent] just because it’s a rival school in the same school district. They are also practicing with us this year, at least while their boiler is down,” Bonner said.

About half of the meets this year will be home and the other half away. Saratoga will also host the League Championships meet this year.

“This year I think we’re going to have a really good year, because we didn’t really lose any key swimmers last year,” Bonner said. “Guys’ swimming in this area right now is really, really strong.”