On Friday, Nov. 10, Swim and Dive competed at the Aggieland Invitational at the Texas A&M Natatorium in College Station. Swimmers left school at 6:30 and drove two hours to College Station, finished prelims and finals, and then arrived back at Westwood at midnight.
“Aggieland is our first travel meet and our biggest meet of the season so far,” Raphael Wang ‘25 said. “We get to travel, race, and rest as a team. We bring the most hype of any team out there.”
Prelims smoothly passed as the swimmers gained spots to compete in finals in the afternoon. Several swimmers acquired their Texas Interscholastic Swimming Coach’s Association (TISCA) cut, including Natalie Rychlikova ‘24 with a 1:12.94 in the 100-Yard-Breaststroke and Cate Palmer ‘26 with a 1:02.64 in the 100-Yard-Backstroke. As the results began to finalize, a breathless race broke out as Abby Dension ‘26 competed for a spot against an opponent who had received the exact same time in prelims. Though she missed her spot by 0.04 seconds, she accomplished a personal feat—dropping nearly a second in her 50-Yard-Freestyle for a 25.70.
After a quick break to a plaza for lunch, it was time to once more contend in a brutal competition that would determine which team topped the rest. Each Aggieland before finals, it is a Westwood Swim and Dive tradition for a captain to deliver a powerful speech. This year, Captain Dillon Shadowen ‘24 embraced the role, helping to rouse the swimmers after a long morning.
“My favorite part was Dillon’s speech, it really got me going,” NamAnh Truong ‘26 said. “It really hyped me up actually. They [captain speeches] energize me, because after warm up I’m feeling really tired and Dillon has a whole speech and I’m like wow, so much energy.”
The Girls 200-Yard-Medley A-Relay made up of Truong, Leah Zhang ‘26, Sophia He ‘25, and Jaden Steen ‘24 overpowered their competition as they reached a winning time of 1:48.09. Iris Wang ‘25 led off the B-Relay, and with the addition of Effie Castel ‘24, Audrey Derdeyn ‘26, and Esha Ramanathan ‘27, scored 22 points for the girls. Kevin Qian ‘25, Steven Ma ‘25, Wang, and Julian Rusk ‘27 in the Boys 200-Yard-Medley A-Relay garnered first place with a time of 1:33.13. Nathan Chor ‘25, Phoenix Mielcarek ‘25, Vincent Zhang ‘26, and Shadowen in the B-Relay followed closely behind in 5th place.
Inspired by early success and with Shadowen’s words lingering in the back of their heads, the Warriors began individual finals with restored vigor. He blasted forward in her 200-Yard-Freestyle and earned first with a 1:53.09—two milliseconds ahead of her opponent. She later on went to win her 100-yard-fly with a 55.33, leaving a wide three second gap between her and second place. Wang dropped an impressive 4.23 seconds to secure first in the 200-Yard-Medley. Right on his toes, Ma seized third place with a time of 1:54.55. Truong sprang ahead half a body-length in the 50-Yard-Freestyle, earning another win for the Warriors 0.63 seconds ahead of her opponents. In a close 100-Yard-Freestyle race, she successfully gained second place with a time of 53.22.
Truong, Violet Hewett ‘25, Steen, and He beat back the other relays in a dominant showcase as the 200-Yard-Freestyle A-Relay. To the sound of happy cries, Angela Fu ‘25 snatched her TISCA cut of 26.19 as she started off the B-Relay. Denison, Zhang, and Castel rounded off the relay with a time of 1:44.54. For the Boys 200-Yard-Freestyle A-Relay, Shadowen, Harrison Tater ‘27, Josh Lee ‘26, and Rusk obtained third place with a time of 1:28.47. The B-Relay made up of Ivan Leong ‘24, Robert Padurean ‘24, Diego Sardan ‘26, and Zachary Goh ‘25 placed seventh and scored 24 points for the Warriors.
In the 100-Yard-Breastroke B-final, Oprah Wei ‘26 soared ahead of her opponents and reaped a Sectionals cut with a time of 1:08.73. 100-Yard-Breaststroke A-finals for Boys stacked with Max Laine ‘27, Wang, and Ma filled the stands with excited cheers and tense energy. With the beep of the start, all eight swimmers thrust off the blocks into a ferocious race for gold. As Wang touched the wall 7 milliseconds behind Georgetown’s Jeremy Kelly, the spectators roared as his time blinked on the scoreboard—55.25—shattering former Westwood and Harvard Swimmer Sonny Wang’s record.
“I’ll always take every opportunity to race someone faster than me,” Wang said. “So racing someone who is among the fastest in the nation this time was a great experience. Although I lost by 0.07 seconds, it was one of the most fun races I’ve had.”
Both girls and boys emerged victorious in the 400-Yard-Freestyle Relay and earned a combined 118 points for the Warriors. The Girls A-Relay made up of Denison, Ramanathan, Zoe Loschke ‘24, and Steen prevailed with a time of 3:43.74. Palmer, Fu, Wang, and Hewett as the Girls B-Relay all swam a time of 58 seconds, finishing to a clean 3:54.39. Qian, Tater, Ma, and Wang as the Boys A-Relay slammed into first place with a time of 3:12.79. The Boys B-Relay made up of Goh, Sardan, Leong, and Chor triumphed, landing in sixth place with a time of 3:20.74.
“I think the team did really good,” Truong said. “[The girls] won all three relays which was really cool.”
Though Aggieland was a thoroughly exhaustive process, it was worthwhile for the Warriors as by the end of the day, Westwood reigned first with 398 points for the men and 350.5 points for the women.
“Truly an unforgettable experience racing with the Westwood Swim Team at Aggieland.” Wang said.
The Warriors will compete next on Saturday, Nov. 18 in the TISCA Meet at the Mansfield Natatorium.