It’s been two years since the women’s swimming and diving team at Delta College had a proper season but now the team is back in gear and ready to make the most out of it.
Due to Covid-19, there weren’t any competitions or swim meets from 2020 to 2021 which made most of the swimmers struggle to find a place to keep active. Members of the teams didn’t slack on their part. Many found different ways to keep fit.
“I was just scrambling trying to find somewhere to swim and just because everything came so suddenly and everything got shut down and we couldn’t do anything so I just started working out on my own,” said Ana de la Garza Garcia.
With the Delta pool and the rest of campus closed, the competitors looked elsewhere.
“I tried to find a polo club to stay fit cause I know it’s not going to be forever and I’m going to back into this with Delta,” said Sophia Schwartz.
This season is composed of a smaller roster than previous ones but that doesn’t mean this year will fall short. Members said they are excited to compete and be in the team environment.
On Friday, Feb. 25 the team competed in the Los Rios Invite at the Sacramento college. This was one of the first times in a while that the women’s swimming and diving team were able to compete with other schools and teams.
“I really like it. I think we came out way stronger as a team in general and a lot of us drop time stop swimming and competing, not against normal teams we normally see in our league or nearby,” said Garcia.
Team members are adjusting to being back in competition.
“It was a new thing because we had teams that we didn’t even like know from water polo there so we couldn’t even tell how fast they were. I swam events I’ve never swam before so that was a very exciting experience to go into just to see how that happens and a lot of people did drop time which is really good which shows how hard we worked in those two weeks off,” said Schwartz.
At the Los Rios meet, Johnston earned first place finishes in the 200 Fly, 200 Freestyle. She also placed fifth in the 100 Fly, according to results from Swim Phone.
“I think it went well. We cheered each other on and it was really fun and I also swam events that I’ve had a really long time and that was really hard but yeah we all worked hard and dropped time and it was fine,” said Johnston.
The women’s team earned a first place finish overall. The men’s team finished fourth, according to Head Coach Jim Maroney.
The team members all have different goals for this season but many fall into the categories of dropping time and making it to state in their respective events.
“My personal goal is to drop time. I haven’t swam since my junior year of high school because of Covid-19 so I’m just hoping to get my personal best times and to go to State for 200 freestyle,” said Johnston.