The winter season has drawn to a close as spring quickly approaches. Along with the end of winter comes the end of winter sports at Berkeley Carroll. The BC swim team had their last meet on Friday, February 7th, at Lehman College in the Bronx. Spirits were high on the bus, as everyone was eager to try our best and end the season on a high note. A lot of new members joined the boys’ team this year and the team overall has done well consistently throughout the season. The girls’ team, despite not having as many people, has also done very well over the season. Just two meets before the championships, the boys’ 200 freestyle relay—made up of Youssef E. (21’), Michael M. (23’), Zeb S. (23’), and Alex R. (22’)—set a school record. Needless to say, expectations were high for the championships. While on the bus, we chatted to pass the time, listened to music to ease our nerves, and got the meet line-up sheet from our coaches, Briana, Montana, and John. Before we knew it, we were there. As it was my first year on the team, I wasn’t sure what to expect. All I’d heard was that the pool at Lehman College was “huge” and chaotic and that the locker room was super big. This all proved to be true. The locker room was gigantic, with several different changing areas, showers, bathrooms, and even a steam room. Similarly, I had heard the Lehman pool was “huge,” but I wasn’t really prepared for just how huge it would be. Dozens and dozens of people crowded the pool area. For perspective, the Berkeley Carroll Athletic Center pool is 25 meters by 4 lanes. The Lehman pool is 50 meters by 8 lanes. Also, the BC pool only goes to 9 feet deep, while the Lehman pool is 14 feet deep. There were so many people crowded everywhere around the exterior of the pool: coaches, students, parents, administrators, etc. 

Since the meet wouldn’t be starting until 4pm, the team had around 35 minutes to do our warmup sets and get prepared. We did some easy laps to get used to the pool and warm up (literally); the pool was freezing. Then we started practicing our dives. As the clock ticked closer and closer to 4:00, we got more and more jittery. I knew that each member of the team, including myself, was committed to swimming their best, and all of us had the goal of setting our own personal records. One of my favorite aspects of the swim team is the self-motivation. Just before 4:00, Briana, Montana, and John gave us a quick reminder of who was swimming which events and told us to be ready when it was time for each of us to swim. With that, the announcer’s voice resonated from the speaker system: the meet had begun.

Watching the entire swim season culminate and end in this meet was really rewarding. It was gratifying to see all our hard work finally pay off in a meet that went well. The BC boys placed 4th out of seven schools, and the girls’ team got 5th place out of seven. The boys’ 400 freestyle relay won the bronze medal, and the boys’ 200 freestyle relay won the silver medal. On top of this, the 200 free relay team—made up of Laurence N. (23’), Michael M. (23’), Youssef E. (21’), and Alex R. (22’)—set another school record. With around 25 boys’ and girls’ events, the meet took almost three hours to finish, ending at around 7:00pm. The bus ride back was much quieter. After four hours of swimming and cheering, we were all tired, but we finished the season with a meet we were proud of. Team Captain Grey Jones (‘20) summed up the season with an inspirational quote: “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t try hard.” Coach Briana called the season “a great success,” adding, “the fact that almost 90 percent of our team PR’d [set a personal record] at championship just goes to show that hard work and dedication pay off! I could not be more proud of the entire team.” The team was also super happy with how we performed during the championships and the season as a whole. I, for one, can’t wait for next year.