On Nov. 13, the swim team traveled to Aggieland to compete in the annual Aggieland invitational swim meet. They took first place with 611 points which was a major lead against Lake Travis, who got second with 505 points. Lake Travis was not an easy team to beat; the Warriors had to have the right mindset to advance to finals and win.
This swim meet was the first meet that had separated preliminaries and finals; everyone swam in the morning, and then the top 16 swimmers in every event competed again that night. This organization allows swimmers who qualify for finals to race side by side with swimmers that are about the same speed. During finals the urge to win was a key factor. The racers were the best of the best, and the swimmers were directly next to each other and could immediately judge the results.
Portia Perley ‘19 finaled in every event she swam in. Additionally, she is on two A relay teams, which is impressive as a freshman.
“I was extremely excited for the first travel meet of the season,” Perley said. “Finaling in every event motivated me to go fast to represent Westwood well. It is also encouraging to be on all of the A relays so that I can continue winning and improving with my teammates.”
Westwood had a lot of success throughout the swim meet. They broke three meet records: Boys 200 Medley Relay by Preston Varozza ‘16, Adam Toler ‘16, Greg Raper ‘16, and Billy Li ‘16, Boys 50 Freestyle broken by Raper, and the Boys 100 Backstroke broken by Varozza. The swim team broke more records than any other team and won more relays than the other competitors. The relays were not only fun team events, but they also brought a lot of points to the team’s final score.
“Swimming on the A relay as a sophomore for the first time was very nerve-racking,” Matthew Lane ‘18 said. “I’m sure I annoyed everyone on the relay because I was talking about random things and asking them a bunch of questions. Overall we barely got out-touched at the end and took 2nd place, which I was happy with.”
The swim team’s next swim meet will be in the Woodlands on Nov. 20, where they will compete against at the annual TISCA meet.
