Selma High’s varsity swim is starting their season off with much enthusiasm and hope. March 9 marked the beginning of the season with their meet against Reedely, followed by a meet on March 17 at Golden West. Their most recent meets were on April 20 against Immanuel and Hanford West.

The team’s goal is to get as many kids to the Valley Championships and finish in the top three. 

“As of right now I expect to take around 12 kids to Valley,” says Coach Wood. 

Coach Wood has been coaching varsity swim for nine years and over those nine years his approach has stayed relatively the same. However, due to the pandemic there have been some inevitable changes. 

“The biggest difference we’re facing this year is that the kids have been off for a year, so they’ve lost a lot of muscle mass,” explained Wood. “We’re back to where we were two years ago.” 

Apart from the loss of muscle mass, another challenge facing the team is their lack of members. Usually they have 40-45 kids but this year their size has been reduced to about 25. 

Vanessa Mares, senior on the team shared the ups and downs of swimming through a pandemic. 

“This year has been difficult since we aren’t able to share lanes like we’re used to. We also aren’t able to compete in as much meets as we used to,” says Mares, “but through swimming I have gained work ethic. It was helped in my perspective on athletics and academics.”

Since swimming is a mostly individualistic sport, the athletes must choose their events carefully. Each swimmer must find an event and stroke that best enhances their athletic abilities. 

Joshua Ramirez is a Junior in varsity swim who has been swimming since he was three and includes swimming as one of his passions. Some events that best suit him are butterfly and freestyle. 

“One of my personal goals is to beat the record for 100 butterfly,” exclaims Ramirez. 

The team supports one another and pushes each other to do their best. This mindset and attitude brings the players and coaches closer together ensuring they will have a good season. 

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