As the spring season draws to a close, the Arcadia High School (AHS) Swim team is still fighting fierce battles in the pool as they duked it out against rival Crescenta Valley High School (CVHS) in a highly-anticipated league meet on Apr. 18. AHS won in Girls Varsity, and were just edged out in Boys Varsity, Boys JV, and Girls JV.

Undeniably, the Arcadia athletes had a daunting task ahead of them. This dual meet was against the other main contender for the Pacific League team title, but swimmers also had the longstanding rivalry between the two teams at the forefront of their minds. Both the Falcons and our Apaches also had a stellar record leading into the meet, standing undefeated in league dual meets, lending another element of pressure to the day.

“Our CVHS swim meet was our last swim meet of the year, and our most competitive one. As we prepare for League Prelims and Finals, the team has been tapering our practices and focusing on the quality of our swims vs. the quantity of our sets,” said Swim Team Captain and junior Ian Chen. 

Senior Jocelyn Wang outlined other requirements for their team’s success: “The team has to be closer than we have ever been before. We need to cheer for everyone and support each other; even though our races are individual, we can only win if we do this together.”

It’s clear that all four levels (Boys Varsity, Girls Varsity, Boys JV, and Girls JV) of the swim team have been pushing hard in the final weeks of their season, and have already produced some outstanding results in each Pacific League meet they’ve won this season. On Apr. 18 they continued that effort, impressing spectators with the rigorous quality of competition they pitted against CVHS. 

“Crescenta Valley is considered by most to be the only competition in the Pacific League most years; pretty much every season, the dual meet champion comes down to the CVHS vs. AHS meet,” said sophomore Patrick Andrianopolous. The “competition and speed that CV brings leads Arcadia swimmers to push harder. When you have someone to race against, you get pushed to swim faster.”

With both teams chasing personal records and a chance at the league title, the cold, windy, and dark conditions at the CVHS pool were certainly less than optimal for the outdoor meet. Nevertheless, the AHS captains kept spirits high with a traditional team chant and an encouraging pep talk. With the title of Dual Meet League Champions riding on their performances, the AHS swimmers went into warm up energized and inspired by the team cheer. 

“A big part of our team spirit has been our team chants this year. The other captains and I lead that chant, and over the course of a season, it’s evolved into a ritual that all of the team participates in—with all of the volume you would expect from an 80-person team,” added Chen.

All season, Chen and his fellow captains have been building this healthy team environment, encouraging their teammates and keeping morale high: “I definitely value team spirit and work. Although a lot of our events are individual [for] swimming, every point counts. Every success reflects on the team, and every swimmer needs to help support their teammates–-whether it be through cheering for them in their races or hyping them up,” said Chen. “As team captain, that’s what my fellow captains and I have promoted this year—a strong team spirit that ensures everyone is ready and excited for their races.”

One highlight of the meet, as recognized by his teammates, was sophomore Ronald Lim’s 22.8 second 50 yd freestyle. Other significant accomplishments deserving of recognition include freshman Peter Lin’s 54 second 100 yd butterfly performance and freshman Meena Phan’s 500 yd freestyle in 5:51. Both freshmen won their individual races, earning Arcadia crucial points.

An air of suspense hung over the pool for the entirety of the meet, as leads constantly shifted from team to team. But even after lagging a few points behind for most of the meet, the AHS Girls Varsity team snatched both 1st and 2nd place finishes in the last event of the meet, pulling out an impressive win and earning the title of dual meet Pacific League Champions. 

“The thing I’m most proud of this season is definitely our win [against CVHS] for our Varsity girls. They have been our biggest rival for many years, and last year we finally beat the odds. I’m glad this year we have been able to defend the title, and I’m proud of the hard work we did to earn it,” said Wang.

This year has been pretty successful for Wang too; she has been bringing the team points in all of her races, and focusing on the 50 freestyle and the 100 back. An impressive 24.70 second performance in the 50 free won her the Pacific League individual title in that event, which she hopes to defend this year.

The Boys Varsity 4×100 yd freestyle relay team were just barely out-touched by 0.2 of a second, but still put up an undeniably impressive time, earning them 2nd in the CVHS meet and the dual meet ranking for the season. 

After their triumph over CVHS, the Girls Varsity team maintains their undefeated season and cements their position as League Champions or Co-Champions. After taking only a single loss each against CVHS, the Girls JV, Boys JV, and Boys Varsity teams also secured a great position in the overall championship, setting themselves up well for League Finals. But the season definitely isn’t over yet!

“This was the last meet before the league championships, and it gives a sense of how much of a fight the Apaches will put up at the upcoming League Prelims and Finals,” continued Andrianopolous.

“I’m really proud of all of our teams and what we’ve accomplished over this season. We’re all definitely bringing our A-game to fight at League,” said Chen. 

Congratulations on a great season to the Apache swim team! If you get an opportunity in the coming days, congratulate one of our valiant AHS swimmers on a hard-fought battle. This recent meet saw a fair share of ups and downs, but the effort they put in can’t be underestimated.

Photo courtesy of Arcadia DCI interns Jodie Tran and Samantha Tran