4 Swim team sinks the San Leandro Pirates

By Gavin Peters

On March 17, the Castro Valley swim team held a home meet against the San Leandro Pirates. From the arrival of the San Leandro pirates until the final lap, our pool of green and gold turned into a seafaring battle ground for our trojans to fend off the purple pirates.

As swimmers began to arrive, putting their bags down and applying sunscreen, the pool was waiting for attention. Being called to the task of removing the pool cover by assistant coach Melissa Wun, the first few attendees were reluctant yet hasty to remove the covers and roll them up. Swimmers gathered together, practicing dives to warm up, stretching their eager bodies, and finishing by clutching their towels to their soaked selves, filling the pool and dry land with a powerful, excited, and somewhat nervous energy.

After warmups they gathered for some team rallying spirit. Led by the captains William DeCarli, Jennnifer Mi, Amelia Johnson, Kyle Mognaga, and

Austin Xie, they performed traditional collaborative chants including the infamous “T, R,O, J, A, N, S, what’s that spell?” finishing off by yelling “Safe Sex!”, making a humorous take over of the nervous atmosphere. During the meet, the water and air was filled with a joyous intensity that could be seen on everyone’s faces. From the supportive teammates lining the foot of the pool scream “GO!” at the tops of their lungs to their peers in a voice of confidence, to the tiny rickety wooden bleachers where parents sat clumped together, to behind the diving blocks where students waited anxiously