As defending champions, both the Boys and Girls Varsity Swim Teams look to repeat in the 2012 season.
The Boys Swim Team is trying for their third straight Eastern League Championship. The Boys Swim Team has won four league titles in the last seven years, making them one of UC’s most successful teams.
The Girls Swim Team is coming off their first league title since 1992. The 2011 season was such a breakthrough for the team, and they want to take that momentum into the 2012 season. Both teams compete in the Eastern League. The Swim Teams will have to compete with Point Loma High School, Patrick Henry High School, and Serra High School.
The Boys Swim Team will be looking for two new members for their relay team. Out of the four members of last year’s team only two remain. Juniors Austin Aleman and Neil Franka will have to lead their team. Possible replacements are Juniors Michael Pinzini and Evan Aker. Aleman said, “I think Evan Aker and Michael Pinzini will both have great breakout seasons and really help our team this year.”
The boys roster only holds three seniors, so leadership will have to come from younger swimmers. Despite the low number of seniors, the team believes they can get a league title. “I think to win league we will have to do the same thing we did last year — race hard every meet and try to win all our duel meets,” said Aleman.
The Girls Swim Team has accepted their newfound success, and expects to compete at the same level in the 2012 season. They like the fact that the boys team has only three seniors. Along with Senior Captain Dayna Latney, both teams will need leadership and maturity from some of the sophomores and juniors.
Junior Jessica Raya said, “I think the girls strongest event this year will be the 4 by 100 relay. Last year we broke the school record for it.”
The team is lead by Head Coach Amanda Weinbrecht. As a UC swimmer, Weinbrecth won multiple CIF events and was a three-time All-American. She later swam for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she set five school records (ucaquatics.com).
With so much excitement for both the Boys and Girls Varsity Swim Team, it looks to be a promising season.