MRHS Swim Team Competes in Championships
December 14, 2018
Mountain Ridge swim team competed at the AIA Division One Championships, ending the season with multiple personal and team records.
On Friday, November 2, the state team made their way down to Mesa to compete at Skyline Aquatic Center.
“I qualified at the Brophy invitational, and at regionals this season in two relays. I was so excited and nervous when I qualified,” said Alexa Shafer (11)
Early in the season the boys 200 Medley relay, and 4×100 Freestyle relay qualified for state. Matthew Pedersen (12) and Ivan Sabev (12) also qualified for their individual events. The girls’ 200 Medley relay, 4×50 freestyle relay and 4×100 freestyle all qualified as well.
“I prepared by coming to practice every day and having a healthy diet,” said Matthew Pedersen. (12)
One week before state the team alternates between tapering, which is doing fast sprint sets, doing drills, and a bit of distance workouts. The day before state the team “carb loads” on pasta, which is a team tradition.
“The meet itself is so competitive, that being surrounded by such amazing swimmers is very humbling and I am proud to have been a part of it,” said Cait O’Brien (12)
32 Schools from across the state go to Skyline for the championships. The pool is an Olympic sized which is spilt into two pools for the boys to compete in one and the girls in another. Some of the athlete’s abilities there show that they are Olympic bound.
The boys all did so well in the preliminaries that they made it back to finals the next day. The girls did well too, the 4×100 freestyle relay dropped 5 seconds, but did not make it back for finals. The next day at finals the boys improved their time, placed 13, and 14 in the relays. Pedersen placed 21st and 18th in his individual events. Sabev placed 8th and 21st in his individual events.
“My favorite memory was the bus ride there, listening to music and being with everyone,” Said Kylie Dennis (9)
The 2018 Swim and Dive season was filled with memories, tears, and new PRs. For the seniors on the team, the last one was a fast one.
