Swim team wins first at Suburban League meet
The Revere boys swimming team celebrated when they took first place at the Suburban League Meet in the American Conference.
Senior co-captain Timothy Grandon talked about the team’s excitement.
“The team was really looking forward to the meet, and we knew that if we came and did our best that we would have a great result,” Grandon said.
Despite the importance of the meet, the swimmers remained calm.
Grandon also mentioned collective mood of the swimmers before the meet.
“The team was pretty relaxed because we had already been to big meets earlier in the season. We were also really excited for this meet because we knew we had a good shot of winning our league, especially after beating Kent Roosevelt earlier in the week,” Grandon said.
Senior co-captain Alec Johnson talked about his performance after the meet.
“My 50 free was on par with last year’s time. [I] took first in the conference and second in the meet. Racing the 50 is always a gamble because everything has to go perfectly in 20 seconds, and it’s the shortest race. I placed the same in the 100 fly, and I took down the ‘02 school record. My muscles were shutting down the last 5 yards, and I was surprised I got the record,” Johnson said.
Johnson and his fellow swimmers did their best at the meet and pushed themselves.
Grandon spoke about the performance of his fellow swimmers.
“The other swimmers did great. They really pushed themselves to go as fast as they could, even after the exhausting winter break two-a-day practices,” Grandon said.
Once the meet was over, the team was excited to see the results.
Sophomore Ryan Scott talked about his reaction after finding out the team had won.
“Me and Jeremy Bonafini walked over to congratulate the 400 free relay on their 2nd place finish and we noticed that the referee was talking to Kent’s relay. We obviously jumped to conclusions and thought maybe they got disqualified. When we finally found out that [Revere] did [win], . . . everyone was cheering and yelling. It felt like the end of a movie,” Scott said.
Johnson also discussed the preparation for their swim meets.
“We have 7 practices a week, 2 morning dryland practices and 5 swim practices. Over Christmas break we load the bus at 5:25 AM for morning practice at the Akron U pool, and afternoon practice starts at 3 at Lifestyles [wellness center in Montrose],” Johnson said.
The team’s weekly practice prepares them for their upcoming meets, but is draining at times.
Johnson also commented on the difficulty of the team’s weekly practice.
“Practices are intense, and we sprint a lot in Coach Dauberman’s practices. There has always been a lot of stress, too, because it’s hard to know if you’re preparing right for the end of the season. The harder we work, the more it pays off at the end of the season,” Johnson said.
While practice is exhausting, the emotional team bonds remain strong at the meets.
Scott mentioned the team’s emotional bonds.
“We all try to create closely knit bonds with each other, and if we don’t connect with one another, the team spirit kind of dies and it becomes more of an individual sport,” Scott said.
Scott also discussed other major wins the team had this season.
“So far, we have won every dual meet this season, as well as winning the Stampede Invitational in December,” Scott said.
The team competed at the Suburban League on January 6 at the University of Akron’s Ocasek Natatorium. The boy’s team placed first, and the girl’s team placed 5 out of 7.
