Harker swimmers clinch fast times in second meet of season

Ashley+Hong+%2810%29+brings+her+arms+together+before+making+a+stroke+in+the+200+medley+event.+Ashleys+quick+time+in+this+event+allowed+her+to+qualify+for+CCS.

Ella Yee

Ashley Hong (10) brings her arms together before making a stroke in the 200 medley event. Ashley’s quick time in this event allowed her to qualify for CCS.

by Ella Yee, Assistant Multimedia Editor

Harker hosted the West Bay Athletic League (WBAL) Jamboree 1A meet at the Singh Aquatic Center on Thursday at 4:00 P.M., inviting competitors from Castilleja School, The King’s Academy, Mercy High School, Notre Dame High School and Pinewood School.

Out of the 44 events in the meet, 30 Harker swimmers participated in 22 individual events and six relay events. Robert Zhang (11) especially enjoyed events where his teammates competed alongside him.

“The 100 free for the boys was nice,” Robert said. “The entire heat was all Harker, and it was really great to see all of us try our best and get some good times.”

Although it was only the second meet of the season, Kyra Cui (9) and Ashley Hong (10) qualified for CCS championships through their impressive performance in the women’s 200 individual medley. In addition, many other Harker swimmers shaved seconds off of previous personal records: Audrey Cheng (9) outpaced her previous times for the 50 breaststroke by around five seconds, while Indigo Lee (11) swam the 200 freestyle in under two minutes for the first time in his swimming career. Coach Sachi Ujifusa noted how the team focused on developing particular skills leading up to the meet.

“In practice, we’ve worked on a lot of technique, because we have a lot of water polo athletes that aren’t used to doing swim specific things like dives, turns and streamlines,” Ujifusa said.

Besides competing against each other, swimmers also chatted with teammates and competitors from other schools in between events.

“Some of my favorite moments from today, and in any meet in general, is just seeing my friends from other schools,” Ipsita Mandal (10) said. “For club swimmers, we have swimmers from our club that we might recognize at other schools. It’s fun to race against them and just see them outside of club.”

Harker swimmers clinch fast times in the second meet of the season. The girls currently rank fifth and the boys third in WBAL standings, and the team will compete again in the Jamboree 2B meet on Thursday.