Both boys’ and girls’ swim are determined to get the most out of the strange season, and “finish up strong,” Ethan Silletta, senior, said. With records of 4-1 for the boys, and 3-2 for the girls, the Wildcats look to continue the season’s successes at league finals tomorrow.

In their last dual meet of the season on May 12, the Wildcats faced Villa Park, and for the first time in school history, all five levels — boys’ varsity, junior varsity, and open, and girls’ varsity and junior varsity — defeated the Spartans. Girls’ varsity stole the win with a final score of 87-81, the closest score of their season, while the boys decisively defeated their competition, 117.50-52.50, their greatest win margin of the year.

The girls were ecstatic with the milestone win over Villa Park. “All our hard work paid off,” Darbie Chiles, sophomore, said. 

Almost every varsity girl achieved a personal record (PR) during the meet. Anna-Riley Boozer, sophomore, achieved a PR of 25.72 in the 50-yard freestyle. Olivia Swindle, junior and team captain, achieved PRs of 57.82 in the 100-yard freestyle and 26.00 in the 50-yard freestyle. Alexis Alexander, junior and team captain, achieved a PR of 26.69 in the 50-yard freestyle. Peyton Lustyk, sophomore, achieved a PR of 1:15.66 in the 100-yard breaststroke. Cat-ly Ngyuen, junior, achieved PRs of 56.69 in the 100-yard freestyle and 2:04.7 in the 200-yard freestyle. Lena Rotblum, freshman, achieved a PR of 59.82 in the 100-yard freestyle. 

The work the Wildcats put into their mindsets was apparent with the plethora of PRs. “Preparing mentally for the race is almost as important as physically training,” Lena Rotblum, freshman, said. 

Both varsity teams faced Canyon High School on May 8. The girls lost with a score of 112-58, and the boys won 103-67. The boys won convincingly, with over half of the swimmers achieving a PR in at least one event. While the girls team had a higher percentage of swimmers who PR’d, Canyon was still able to win most events, pulling out an overall win as well.

The Wildcats fell to the Foothill Knights on April 28, the girls with a final score of 114-56, and the boys 118-52. BOHS hasn’t beat Foothill in league since 2016. Even though they knew the Knights would be their toughest competition of the season, the Wildcats, despite the loss, still managed PRs across both teams. 

The Wildcats were victorious over Yorba Linda on April 24 at the BOHS pool. Girls finished with a score of 96-70, and boys 96-71. The win came from weeks of training and focusing on the details. Gil Rotblum, head coach, frequently reminds athletes of the aspects of their swims they need to focus on, such as kick, head positioning, and streamline.

Both girls’ and boys’ varsity started off their season with resounding victories against El Dorado High School on April 14. The girls triumphed with a score of 105-65, and the boys with a score of 91-79. 

Training for this season has been different than past years, due to COVID-19 safety protocols. “We can’t do anything with weights or pull up bars or stuff like that, but that just means that we have more time in the pool specifically to work on technique,” Silletta said. With the adjusted training athletes are benefiting in different ways than before, such as being less sore after long workouts. 

Even with the pandemic altering their training, the Wildcats are still performing in their races. “We’ve all done really well, we’ve had a lot of PRs as a team,” Lena Rotblum said.

To prepare for tomorrow’s varsity league finals at Foothill High School, both teams are tapering with progressively shorter practices and a focus on technique, rather than endurance.