The swim team sent one student to state after a successful run at playoffs, marking one of the team’s best years. The state meet took February 17-18 at UT Austin’s swimming pool.

Sophomore Ian Maldonado reached the finals for the boys 100 Butterfly competition at Regionals, achieving second place. This is his second year in a row qualifying for state. 

“This year was a big shift in attitude,” coach Christopher King said.

While the team competes at many events throughout the season, their swim times at the Districts and Regional competitions decide whether or not they progress further.

“What you get is what you get that day,” coach King said.

The pre-elimination rounds at Regionals decide whether players go onto the Championship heat or a consolation heat, with only the former providing the opportunity to qualify to state.

“Once you’ve made your stake, you’ve got to live with it and carry through it,” King said.

Maldonado competed in the consolation heat for 50 Freestyle, along with Aramanda Heredia who competed in the consolation heat for the 100 Backstroke.

Competitors compete individually but work as a team for points, incentivizing cooperation and teamwork as they focus on “building chemistry to practice as a team.”

This is especially true for relay races, where each competitor is depending on each other, requiring communication beforehand.

“They do really well talking to each other, supporting each other, [and] joking,” King said. “We do our little Chant hoo-rah thing before every meet.”

Competitors’ performance is decided by their time, encouraging them to focus on dropping time as a central goal of each competition.

“There’s always pressure ‘cause you want to have the faster time,” King said.

That can create stress, but King encourages students to decompress and “race your [sic] heat; win your heat.”