Mia Su: Besting The Breaststroke

BRANDON GE Staff Writer

If swimmers were ranked from a scale of one to ten with one being the casual public pool swimmer and ten being some of the best swimmers in the nation, eighth grader Mia Su might break the scale.

Su’s swimming endeavors started at the age of six months old, when her parents placed her in swimming lessons so she wouldn’t drown. Fast forward to today, and Su has been competitively swimming for seven years. Along the way, Su has picked up some remarkable achievements, winning competitions and smashing records. One of these records came at the age of ten.

“When I was ten, three people from my swim team and I broke the National Age Group Record for both the mixed 200 yards medley relay and the mixed 200 yard freestyle relay,” Su said.

The group broke their own 200 yard med ley relay record, a time of 2:01.76, set just a few months ago. They improved that time to 2:01.64. The previ ous freestyle relay record was a time of 1:49.76. Su and her team mates broke that record with a time of 1:49.51.

Such competitive swimming brings both enjoyment and stress to Su, as the dedication and work required for good re sults often takes early mornings and late nights.

“My least favorite thing about swimming is waking up at 5:30 and going to practice at 6 on school days,” Su said.

These early morning practices alone often mean a lackluster night of sleep for Su. But, adding the responsibility of doing her schoolwork, managing time efficiently becomes very difficult.

“I try my best to finish my homework as quickly as possible, but sometimes I have to stay up late and wake up early to finish studying for a test,” Su said. These sleepless nights do pay off for Su, however, since her progress as a swimmer brings her

“It’s fun watching my progress as a swimmer, like my times getting faster,” Su said. “It’s also fun for me to know how I am ranked against other swimmers.”

Su’s swimming career is far from over, however, as she has aspirations to continue swimming at a higher

“My goal is to get to the Olympic trials cuts soon and hopefully get into the Olympics before colduring my of college,” Su said.

The arrival of the new year marks the start of league competition for all winter sports, specifically the boys and girls soccer teams. Both teams have had impressive performances throughout the duration of their seasons as well as some flaws that they aim to solve.

Girls soccer head coach Whitney Wood said she is happy about her teams’ performance so far this season, but that there’s been some struggles as well.

“[The preseason had] some wins and really good team effort,” Wood said. “[We are] struggling with a winning mindset as we face tougher teams.”

However, Wood said she remains confident that the team will start winning more difficult games in the future. The girls team has had a multitude of special moments throughout the course of their season, but one game in particular stood out to Wood.

“My favorite moment [was] our game against Cupertino High School,” Wood said.

The Panthers faced the Pioneers in a late night matchup under the bright lights of the Firebird tournament. As both teams fought throughout the first half, Pinewood went down 1-3. However, the second half was a different story as Pinewood clawed their way back into the game to tie it up at 3-3.

“[Junior ] Charlotte Van Gent, our leading scorer, scored a hat trick,” Wood said.

In the final minutes, Cupertino scored a last minute goal, but the takeaway of the game was Pinewood’s inspiring comeback and hard-fought play.

The boys soccer team also competes as fiercely as the girls team. Captain and senior Jason Rowe has positive things to say about his team’s performance so far.

“The season has gone well so far, even though we have yet to play our best,” Rowe said.

Looking toward the future, Rowe hopes that his team can keep improving, yielding better results in upcoming games against tougher opponents. Rowe has some favorite moments of his final season as a Pinewood soccer player.

“My favorite moment was playing our first home game against Sacred Heart,” Rowe said.

Despite a tough start, the team managed to win the second half against a fierce competitor. Rowe said that he enjoyed the feeling of being back on the field. He said that defense has improved since last season and it has benefited the team greatly.

“This season the freshmen have stepped into the roles that three departing seniors left in the back line,” Rowe said.