By Xander Mui, Staff Writer
A strong showing by the Varsity girls swimming team helped them place 3rd, while the JV boys and JV girls placed 4th, and the Varsity boys 5th at All-City Finals for swimming on Saturday, Apr 29, 2023. Overall, the Galileo swimmers swam extremely well, placing in many events, however, fielding a small team proved difficult to put up much competition against much larger teams like Lincoln, Washington, and Lowell.
Galileo’s swim coach, Sheila Burke, was proud of the swim team, saying, “Galileo had a successful All City final meet. With only a handful of returning swimmers, some new to the team swimmers, and some new to swimming swimmers, the team pulled in a number of individual and relay medals, had a number of ‘close to a medal’ finishes, and plenty of individual best times. The JV girls held strong, finishing only one point behind Lincoln, to just miss third place. Those results bode well for the future of Galileo swimming.”
The meet began with a rough start in the 200 medley relay events for the Galileo swimmers, as the varsity girls, varsity boys, JV girls, and JV boys all placed last in the relays. The swimmers were a little upset with the relays, but felt better that at least they were able to earn a few points.
But the team bounced back from there in the 50 freestyle event. Junior swimmer, Kayla W., swam a stunning 27.47 for a 3rd place medal in Girls Varsity. Even more impressive, she swam a 1:03.38 for a 2nd place medal for the 100 free. Sophomore swimmer, Zorianna M., followed with a 1:10.85, finishing 5th.
For the Varsity boys, Sophomore Kenny T. and Senior Jimmy Y. swam the 200 individual medley with a 2:22.45 for 3rd place and 2:34.21 for 5th place respectively. Senior Dante W. finished the 50 free with a 24.01 for 5th place, while Kenny T. swam 56.19 for the 100 free for 6th place and Junior Andreas G. touched the wall shortly after for a 57.73 in 7th place.
“I felt really tired, but also really relieved at the same time.” Kenny T. said, adding, “I felt kind of anxious because it was my first meet that actually mattered to me in 3 years.”
In the 200 freestyle relays, the Varsity girls team, consisting of Freshman Micole C., Junior Aleeya S., Zorianna M., and Kayla W., found redemption, placing 2nd place with a total time of 2:06.25.
“It was unfortunate that the relay was right before one of my individual events” Micole C. said. “Lowell had a strong start so we tried keeping 2nd place. At the end we lapped the 3rd place team thanks to Kayla”
And to close off the meet, the Varsity boys, consisting of Dante W., Andreas G., Jimmy Y., and Kenny T., compete in the 400 freestyle relay and finish with a total time of 3:44.62 for 3rd place.
“I was pretty nervous at first,” Andreas G. says, “but I pushed throw and worked with my team to get on the podium for one of our events.”
“I think our season went really well as a team and individually.” Kenny T. said. “Everyone improved and was pretty good. I’m happy about the 4×100 free relay, but I feel like I could’ve done better on my 200 individual medley”
“The season went well. Everyone made good progress and I’m very proud of all of us and how much the team has grown since last year.” Kayla W. says. “I look forward to meeting new swimmers, seeing the team continue to grow, and hopefully we can make it to states next year.”
