Last Saturday marked the end of an undefeated season for the RM Swim and Dive boys team. This season has been one of the most successful for the boys, who narrowly won at divisionals with a score of 455.5. The girls team went against a few very strong teams and took fifth place with 199.5 points.

Junior Ian McBain was the only RM boy diver going against multiple opponents from other schools. However, he kept his head held high and finished with 8th place, earning the first 11 points for the team. Senior Kamryn Umbel came next and secured second place, claiming 17 more points.

After the divers had done their part, the swimmers began to get ready. Before the other teams knew it the RM swim boys were already dominating by getting first place in the first relay. The anchor, senior Jonathan Mendley, slammed into the wall just 0.20 seconds before Churchill.

Freshman Joy Shi had the highest rank of the RM girls in divisionals. In 200 IM, she finished in fifth place and beat Wootton and BCC, while also earning a Metros time. “There was tremendous support from everyone around me, and I felt really engaged and inspired to do my best,” Shi said. Later in 100 free, she also tied for 6th place with a BCC swimmer.

A few more notable events were the 50 free, 100 back, and 100 breast. Senior Kenny Afolabi-Brown junior Jack Rose led the team to first place victories in all three of these events, while also meeting the Metros time.

The meet came down to the very last event. The 400 free relay would determine the boys winner and would either mark the RM boys as undefeated champions or simply second place. RM, BCC, and Churchill were neck and neck throughout most of the relay. Finally, RM pulled away and won the relay by less than a second, and the meet by just 5.5 points.

“Before the race I was excited to know we had been able to catch up to Churchill’s guys because of our outstanding swims in the both 100 breast and back,” Afolab-Brown reflected. “I knew we could do it as long as we didn’t make any mistakes, and sure enough we did.”

Soon, the meet was over and the team said a bittersweet goodbye, carrying each of their divisionals poster. This swim season has been one of the most successful. The boys finished, undefeated, and the girls can finish proudly, knowing they have given it their all. “Even though we may sometimes lose to the other teams we never lose in spirit! Go Rockets!” Shi remarked.

Featured photo by Grace Zhou.