The swim team took part of the Round Rock Invitational Meet on Saturday, Oct 27. Boys placed second tying with McNeil, and girls took second place being beat by the Round Rock team. Although they got second the Warriors’ spirits were still high, and with over 15 teams swimming, they were able to finish with great races and have fun while doing it.

“I wasn’t too worried about what place we would get,” Coach Matthew McBrearty said. “I was glad with all their swims and the effort they put in.”

Coach McBrearty had also made sure to get the team spirit up and going by having the swimmers cheer for their teammates while they swam. No matter what event they were on, Westwood was always the loudest ones at the pool.

“Having the team out by the pool cheering on everyone swimming was definitely my favorite part,” Amy Ma ‘19 said. “This has been by far the loudest our team had been this season, and it’s amazing seeing all the support our team gives.”

Besides having high team spirit, the weather also played a huge contribution to the swimmers attitudes. Last year when this meet took place, it was 30 degrees and rainy, but this year, the sky was blue and the sun was out, making the swimmers attitude towards the meet ten times better.

“Last year’s meet was horrible, no one wanted to be there because it was so cold,” Erica Stubbs ‘20 said. “You could really tell that this year we were actually having fun and enjoying the beautiful weather.”

With some noticeable wins from many swimmers, some were proud and also surprised with how well they swam.

“I think my swim went well, especially my backstroke because I’m not a backstroker,” Austin Nguyen ‘22 said. “Yet I did better than I thought I would.”

Although the weather was nice and teams spirit was high, some swims didn’t go as planned. At the last event of the day, the boys’ 400 meter freestyle relay, the boys team got disqualified caused by a false start.

“I guess I just got nervous,” Nathaniel Thomas ‘20 said. “It happens sometimes and it’s unplanned, but now all I have to do is work on it in practice so it won’t happen again.”

Though the chance to score points for the boys relay was cut short, the girls did a good job in doing so especially in the 200 medley relay where Annie Bowers ‘19, Haley Betron ‘20, Nell Yao ‘22 and Ma got second being beat by biggest rivals Round Rock.

“It was such a close race,” Yao said. “They were ahead of us by almost nothing, and the entire time we were just waiting to see if we’d be able to pass them, it was such a good race.”

Although the boys team got beat by 57 points, and the girls team got beat by 80, this meet was a learning experience for many swimmers, who now know what to work on for their next big meet.

“I swam well but I definitely need to work more on my keeping my kick fast and working on my turns,” Shreyush Shankar ‘21 said. “I want to try and drop more time for Aggieland next week, and I definitely think that by working on these it’ll help.”

The Warriors’ next meet is Saturday, Nov. 3 at Aggieland in College Station.