Out of 26 total teams competing, Green Level’s Class 4a men’s swim team ranked second place in the regionals. Being in second place with this extraordinary swim team allows them to participate in the state finals to represent Green Level.
As for the stats, Jonathan Pelemar, Darren & Kevin Liu, and Leo O’keefe competed in the 200 Yard Medley Race, got second place, and received 34 points. Leo O’Keefe swam in the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke, got second place, and received 17 points.
Jonathan Palamar participated in the 100-yard backstroke alongside Leo and received 15 points for 4th place. Jonathan Pelemar, Darren and Kevin Liu, and Justin Park all participated in the 400-yard freestyle relay and received 32 points for 3rd place.
With such great results, Mary Beth Hardie, the swim team coach, feels very proud of how much effort they displayed in the regionals: “They worked hard to get to that position, but in the back of my mind, I knew we were gonna get a good place. The swimmers that are in the States are all club swimmers. We don’t do their practices since I am the GLHS coach, so I can only guide and give them information.“
She builds on “Some of the struggles while swimming are going outside at 5:30 in the morning to swim, this also gives them more energy in the morning to get through the day since they exercised very well and were able to get through the rest of the day.”
An encouraging quote that Coach Hardie mentioned during the interview that was meant for the other coaches rather than the swimmers, “If you think you can’t handle it, go for it either way since the outcome doesn’t matter, it’s the reward of coaching is building connections with the students which feels great since these connections can be great and everyone will have a fun time as we learn new things.”
Manas, part of the swim team, is all fired up for the state finals after the way they crushed the regionals, “We passed through regionals with so much effort, the teams were all tough, the competition is getting even more aggressive as we enter the state finals.”
He adds that his team is excited to compete in the state finals since they can compete with new people. The practice continues as everyone puts in effort to crush the state finals.
As of now, they are preparing tirelessly for the state finals to represent Green Level. They are putting in a lot of effort to get qualified against Class 4a competitors. We wish you all luck at the state finals this week!
