2021 Aragon Swim Team Gallery
Photos by Rahul Vishwa.
On March 19, Aragon’s boys and girls swim team defeated Hillsdale in their second to last virtual meet of the season. Snagging 12 first place finishes, the Dons won by a comfortable margin.
“I think everyone did really well,” said senior swimmer Kris Nguyen. “We swam hard, and we had lots of fun. For my individual performance, I could have done better, of course, but the times that I got were good.”
During this meet, as with any, having a focused mindset and staying free from distractions was a key to success for the athletes. Nguyen placed first in all four of his events.
“Usually during the relays … I’m trying to get the best time,’” Nguyen said. “But during the individual meets, I’m usually thinking ‘keep on doing your best, swim harder, don’t breathe, just keep on going.’ Sometimes I think to myself ‘don’t look back’ because you don’t want to see the person next to you because it can screw up your time.”
Although athletes’ mindsets have stayed strong, the atmosphere during competitions has shifted.
“In past seasons, I would look forward to seeing some of the people I knew from other schools but now we don’t get to swim in the same pool as our opponent swim teams,” said junior swimmer Michelle Liu. “Relays are usually super exciting to watch and participate in since the races are usually very close which creates more competition. But now that we are always racing against the same people, there isn’t as much cheering or fierce competition.”
Not only have COVID-19 safety regulations changed swim meets themselves, but the new regulations have also changed practices. Instead of practicing six times a week, the Dons only practice three times a week now and in smaller groups. With smaller practice groups, coaches have been able to give swimmers extra attention as they have limited numbers of athletes to watch over.
During practices and meets, the athletes and coaches try to adhere to social distancing protocols as much as possible, but the swimmers are faced with a difficult environment as they cannot wear masks in the pool.
“With the few days of practice, it is a lot harder to get back in shape and I haven’t been able to get back into the shape I was in for previous swim seasons,” Liu said. “However, I really enjoy that during practices, there is a maximum of two swimmers per lane so I am able to go at my own pace and not worry about running into other swimmers or waiting for my turn to swim.”
Even though the season has been very different, all athletes have enjoyed the mental health break attending practices has given them.
“A favorite memory would probably be seeing my friends honestly,” Nguyen said. “During quarantine, you don’t really get to go out that much, so I guess having some sort of interaction with the coaches and my friends is pretty nice.”
Seniors have also had to come to terms with the end of their swim careers being a lot different than usual.
“I think that it has to be much easier to adjust as a new player than as a returning player since you’ve already [gotten used to] prior seasons,” said senior swimmer Jennifer Barerra. “[But] it’s nothing like the seasons that we have now.”
In terms of mental support in this hard time, Barerra also agrees that the coaches have been extra understanding of athletes.
“I think that [the coaches] have really come to terms with understanding how students must feel,” Barerra said. “But I do think that they really understand.”
As for hopes for the rest of the season, athletes and coaches are focused on the last meet of the season which will happen on March 24.
“Now that the season is coming to an end, I just am hoping for our final [meet is] a good one,” Barerra said. “I do really hope I stay in touch with those team members that I’ve really become close with.”
Additional reporting by Emma Quanbeck.
