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In less than 24 hours, our Cardinal swimmers will face their biggest meet this season: the championships.
With graduation coming around the corner, the Cardinals swimmers not only have to say their farewells to the senior class but to their coach Jonathan Riley as well. Riley has decided to move to Hawaii for a job opportunity after this swimming season. “Our whole team will miss Jonathan Riley dearly,” senior varsity swimmer Kevin Lee said. “ He has raised Lowell swimming to a whole new level this year as head coach.”
Current assistant coach Hubert Lim will succeed Riley next season. Although Lim had just started coaching this year, swimmers agreed that Lim would be a fantastic coach. “He definitely has plenty of experience, considering he won many championship races
when he swam for Lowell in the ‘90s,” Lee said. “Hubert will be a perfect coach for next year.”
With championship drilled into their mentality, the Cardinals had their last regular meet, against Lincoln and Wallenberg, on April 16. Although the scores were unrecorded, most swimmers agreed that this was simply a mediocre meet. It wasn’t the team’s best meet, nor was it their worst. Despite the fact he didn’t swim as fast as possible for the 200 free-style, senior varsity swimmer Stanton Huang swam the 100 fly in only 56.4 seconds, one of his fastest times.
Although the Cardinals have wiped away all competition they still strive to get better. Swimmers such as Huang, senior varsity swimmers Cerise Tang and Anthony Li have discovered that they really need to work on improving their flip turns. “One mistake, such as a bad turn, could really change the outcome of the competition,” Li said. “There is not enough time to catch up with the opponent if a swimmer makes a big mistake.”
On April 9, the Cardinals managed to defeat their arch-rival, the Washington Eagles. The meet was intense. “Washington definitely has a strong team and a few individuals to watch out for,” Lee said. “Out of all the San Francisco public schools we’ve raced, they’ve come closest to beating us.”
Though it was a tough meet, the Cardinal boys’ relay team composed of Huang, Lee, senior varsity swimmer Nicholas Kwan and sophomore varsity swimmer Nicholas Pasquinzo stood out by breaking the league’s record by one second. Lee also stood out when he caught up to his opponents during the 200-yard Medley relay, which allowed the rest of the relay team to pull ahead.
With only a day before championships, our seniors are feeling a mix of jittery and excited feelings for the big day tomorrow. “I’m excited, nervous and sad about championships,” Tang said. “This will be my last championship, as I am a senior, and I really wish swim season wouldn’t come to an end just yet.”
Swimmers such as Huang are excited to defend the varsity swimmers’ 12-year winning streak. “This year is the most competitive championships because many of the city’s fastest swimmers are competing,” Huang said.
Gather your pompoms and come support the Cardinals at 1 p.m. tomorrow at the city championships at City College of San Francisco against the Washington Eagles, Balboa Buccaneers, Lincoln Mustangs, Galileo Lions and the Wallenberg Bulldogs. |
