This year, at the championship on May 2, Kwan decided to show off an Indian headdress during the swim cheer that Coach Jonathan Riley had introduced last year. Sophomore varsity swimmer Monica Morucci had brought the costume piece for Kwan to wear to add to the energy. “High school doesn’t last forever,” Kwan said about the team’s shared moments of fun and competition throughout the season.

            The greatest achievement for the team as a whole this season was winning the championship and upholding the Cardinal legacy from the past decade. “The best thing is that we won,” junior varsity swimmer Celia Liang said. “We were really worried about JV boys and varsity girls winning because the fastest of the boys was moved up to varsity and the Lincoln girls are pretty good swimmers, but we ended up winning varsity girls and keeping our title from last year.”

            Championship day began with a second place finish in the girls’ 200-yard medley relay by Morucci, junior varsity swimmers Erica Fung and Cerise Tang and senior captain Christina Loo. Junior varsity swimmers Anthony Li, Kevin Lee, Stanton Huang and Chun followed-up by placing first in the matching event — the boys’ 200-yard relay. After the starting buzzer for the race, Chun seemingly flew over the waters, leaving their opponents with little hope of winning. Huang ended the relay by speeding through the waters for a time of 1.47.41 with Galileo in second place with a time of 1.54.67.

Some of the most memorable experiences for the team were working together during practices and competitions and the team bonding social events. “My favorite memory with the swim team this season would probably be the team party,” Loo said. “It was really fun because it was after a great meet and no one had anything to worry about.” 

            Next year, the team will lose valuable seniors. However, the team will have plenty of juniors to pick up the slack. The rising seniors hope to help lead team as role models for the new swimmers. “I want to see how I can help the team improve more,” Lee said. “Next year, I want to pass on my positive attitude toward swimming to the underclassmen, and I also want to help them set solid goals for themselves.”

Most Valuable Players

The Lowell’s choices for MVP this year are Morucci and captains Chun and Loo. These three have shown an outstanding dedication to swimming over the years.

Fellow swimmers note that Chun, Loo and Morucci have missed few practices; possibly even none, and that they are always trying their best to improve. “Monica works hard,” Fung said. “She encourages us to swim faster during practices.”

Chun and Loo stood out from the rest of the team because of their combined leadership, enthusiasm and skill shown throughout the season. “Stanford is always the first one in the pool,” Loo said. “”He gets everyone together, starts the team cheer and makes the announcements.”

Chun and Loo’s contributions to the team also affected the team. “This year, we became more of a team with the JV because of their personalities,” Kwan said. “They are also the two fastest swimmers.”

During his last year at Lowell, Chun won an award from the Alumni Association for student athlete of the year at the Sports Hall of Fame Banquet on April 18, although, according to Kwan, Chun was awarded for his outstanding performance and dashing good looks.

Although the team will miss the seniors as they move on, they will still benefit from Morucci's contributions. “Monica is responsible, she came up with the design for the team sweater," Loo said. "She is always really motivated.”

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