The entire pool went quiet until a loud beep pierced the silence, the meet had begun. On Saturday, November 7, the City High swim team competed at their regional competition, placing fourth out of eight teams with a total score of 261.

“How the girls performed was indicative of how great of a team we are because [despite] the year we had everyone still pulled out best times,” assistant coach Nikol Lagodzinska said.

Swimmers Rika Yahashiri ‘21 and Heidi Stalkfleet ‘22 qualified for the state meet individually, along with both the 200 yard medley relay and the 400 yard freestyle relay. Yahashiri swam a time of 24.72 in the 50 yard freestyle and 1:10.68 in the 100 yard breaststroke. Stalkfleet swam a 58.33 100 yard butterfly and a 5:05.27 500 yard freestyle.

“I think the meet went really well for the team,” Averi Loria ‘22 said. “Everybody dropped a lot of time. It made the whole team a lot happier and gave us a lot more energy which motivated other people to drop more time too.”

Greta Stanier ‘23 qualified for state in diving with a point total of 369 after completing 11 dives. She is currently ranked 30th in the state. 

“Qualifying for state this year was really fulfilling for me because it was a goal I have had for a while,” Stanier said. “It was nice to feel like everything I worked on this season paid off.”

The state meet is currently scheduled on November 13-14, but some uncertainties due to COVID-19 remain.

“The season went by so quickly and [with] Zayn announcing that he won’t be with us next year, it’s almost like you want to hold on to every little moment,” Lagodzinska said. “He’s created such an atmosphere here and the girls love it. I love it. It’s going to be different next year. That’s scary, but this is just a great season, and I’m looking forward to the last week.”