The 2016 boys’ swim season has officially come to an end, but it was one of improvements, surprises, and memories made. As the senior swimmers graduate from the team, younger teammates have memories with them to cherish forever.

“I’ll always remember being able to swim with the seniors,” junior Brandon Brown said. “It was a great last year with them.”

“I’ll remember the relaxing parts of being on the team, like hanging out with my friends during meets,” senior Josh Urteaga said.

Along with great memories, this season was one full of many accomplishments as well. The team placed third overall, as well as individual swimmers breaking both school and personal records.

“My most outstanding moment was definitely getting to go to state,” Brown said.  “It was an amazing opportunity.”

“I broke my personal record at sections,” Urteaga said. “That was my favorite moment of the year.”

With many accomplishments come some disappointments, but the team members try not to let mistakes keep them down.

“At sections I made finals and was hoping to have a good swim, but I ended up adding two seconds to my time,” Brown said. “I still was able to go to state, and I got to try again.”

“In one of our relays, each person is supposed to swim four laps, but I jumped in after they had only swam two laps and ended up getting us disqualified,” Urteaga said. “Of course, I was disappointed, but it was really funny.”

Both the coach and players have set goals for themselves that they hope to accomplish next year.

“Next year, I want to continue building the program,” Verwijst said. “We have a lot of young swimmers.”

“Next year I’m hoping to beat the record for the 500 freestyle,” Brown said. “I also want to go to state again and try to get into Division I (college) swimming.”