By Samantha Reyes Lopez
The Passaic High School Co-ed Varsity team have made great efforts going from 2016 into 2017. Many athletes on the team have accomplished a lot this year with setting new personal bests as well as placing higher titles at meets.
With championships coming up they’re wasting no time in making huge splashes in the water. With times from their most recent meet at Tech, girls like Stephanie Rojas with a time of 1:20.20 in the 100 free and Michelle Almonte with a time of 2:55.74 in the 200 free. The boys don’t fail to impress either with Luis Liriano in the 100 back with 1:55.17 and Luis Lopez in the 100 breast with 1:29.63.
Jocelyn Hernandez, a junior, who has been on the swim team since her freshmen year wasn’t able to swim this season due to medical complications, but that didn’t stop her from assisting her fellow teammates. “This season has shown me not to worry about winning but to support each other through every race. Most importantly being there for them because after all we are all family and this sport means a lot to us all.” Knowing the importance of support from not only family but through teammates is what makes swimming fun.
The Boys Varsity Swim Team has had their fellow highs and lows this season as well. With championships still coming up they hope to win medals that will prove others wrong. Christopher Kelemen, a sophomore, who has been on the swim team for multiple years, highly believes Passaic can prove themselves to other schools wrong and actually win. With this mindset and championships soon ahead there are high hopes for this season to end with a bang.
The thrill found in swimming according to many members of the team is something that many will never experience. As said by Varsity swimmer Nicole Goicochea when describing how it feels to swim in competition, to her “It’s a rush because when you are on the block and they say ‘swimmer step up’ silence creeps in the only thing you can hear is your own heart beat and then the whistle blows and all you hear is the water of everyone diving in.”
The need to win is overtaken by the need to reach the end of the pool. Goicochea said,“you don’t feel how fast your heart is beating or how hard you worked for not even 40 second moment until you get out of the pool and everything hits you.”
