The RM swim team has historically been at the top of the state, and even the country. Going into their first meet of the season against Poolesville, the swimmers were looking to continue this legacy.

As they prepared to enter the frigid water on Saturday morning, the swimmers were pumped up and ready to go out and win their events. “Our team is really strong this year as always,” said junior Luke Xia. “We got some of the fastest swimmers and we’re definitely one of the best schools.”

Despite the Rockets’ confidence going into the competition, they barely defeated Poolesville, 187.5 to 181.5. In fact, the boys, who rarely lose, were beaten by the Poolesville boys, 80 to 103. The girls, however, were able to garner enough points, 107.5-78.5, to overcome the deficit of the boys to eek out the win.

Many swimmers on the team believed that their performance in this meet is not indicative of how their season will go. “A lot of people weren’t there because a lot of our swimmers had another swim meet,” described sophomore Antonio Sellemi. Because this separate meet had high implications for the competitive swimmers, some of the top swimmers for the team were not able to show up. “Since our best swimmers didn’t show up, we weren’t at our cap today,” explained Xia.

Furthermore, other swimmers decided to go to both meets, which considerably tired them out. “I went to the other meet and then came to the school meet,” described sophomore Justin Roh, “so a lot of the swimmers, me included, were really tired from that.”

However, the Rockets were not at all discouraged by this fact, making up for the missing swimmers through grit and determination. “Maybe we didn’t have a lot of manpower,” said Sellemi, “but we still had spirit, we thought that we would still be able to do this, we still had the confidence in ourselves, and we pushed through in the end. It was messy, but we were able to walk away with the victory.”

That victory was thanks to the outstanding performance from girls, who dominated their competition. “The girls were the highlight of the meet,” said Sellemi. “They were amazing. Before, everyone underestimated the girls and their abilities, but they proved otherwise. People should definitely be watching out for them.”

Sophomore Sophia Wang, among many girls, played a key role in the team’s victory. “We were able to get out there, swim our best, and win the meet for the team,” said Wang. “I’m really proud of all our girls.”

Looking ahead, the Rockets are confident in their ability to perform, despite this close call. “This meet doesn’t really have any implications about our future,” Xia said. “A lot of our good swimmers weren’t present. Based on just our skill, if all of our swimmers show up, we’re definitely one of the top schools in the county, if not the best.”

The boys will be looking to prove their dominance once again, next week against Whitman.

Featured photo by Victoria Carter