Swimming: Teams suffer first losses

After both the boys’ and girls’ varsity swim teams started the season with two wins in dual meets against Lynbrook and Los Gatos, both teams suffered their first losses. The girls’ defeat came against Monta Vista on April 2 and the boys’ suffered a similar fate against Monta Vista on April 15.

After large margin victories over Lynbrook and Los Gatos, the girls’ team went into the meet against reining CCS champions Monta Vista confident. They were disappointed at losing by a mere ten points.

“I was really proud of the girls,” said coach Kristin Thomson. “They were a really good team and if all of our swimmers would have been healthy I think it would have changed the dynamic of the meet.”

There were many injured swimmers during the Palo Alto meet that Thomson believed could have helped the team significantly, including sophomores Debbie Lin and Joyee Woodrow.

The boys’ team boasted a 3-0 record entering the meet against Palo Alto but lost to the powerhouse 91-92, by one point. Although the Falcons won almost every event at the meet, a lack of depth in the roster led to the loss. Saratoga also was outscored 13-0 in the one meter diving event in which they had no participants to Palo Alto’s three.

“It was really disappointing to lose to Paly by one point,” said senior Matt Murray, “but we have to leave this behind us and look forward to the rest of the season.”

Saratoga will round out the season with meets against Gunn and Homestead on April 24 and April 30 respectively. They will then finish the season with League Finals from May 5-8.

After the league season is over a handful of Saratoga qualifiers will attend the CCS meet on May 15 and 16. The girls’ team is looking to improve on a ninth place finish at last year’s meet and with a number of promising new swimmers and the return of some of last year’s team leaders, this is a very realistic goal.

The boys, who got second to Bellarmine last year, are hoping to take the title this year. The team looks even stronger than last year’s squad and with some fresh talent of Ian Burns and Tyler Borch, and the senior leadership of Matt Murray, Brad Murray, and Ben Hinshaw, the team is more confident than ever.

“We are going to be challenging Bellarmine this year,” said coach Christian Bonner. “We have improved our relays and we have more people who are going to score points so this could be our year.”