The Godinez swim team had already gone through struggles before the swim season even started.

This school year, Godinez Aquatics had many changes including: new coaches, athletes leaving, and swim meets or tournaments being canceled or rescheduled.

However, the team is trying to make the most out of their season by improving times and trying to stay competitive.

Freshman, Valeria Cervantes, has felt the struggle. She said, “We’ve had to step up more because our fastest swimmers left. We have to fill some big shoes.”

This season, a few senior girls dropped the sport. This definitely affected the team especially the underclassmen.  

For freshman, Jocelyn Mendez she feels, “There aren’t a lot of people to teach me what I need to know about swimming.”

It’s not easy to stay in this program when others, especially upperclassmen, drop the sport. It’s a tough schedule to follow. Practices are usually from 4:30-6:30 p.m. and the team must walk to practice at Valley High School.

During 6th period, the swim team gathers in teacher Nicholas Gentile’s room, then he has the team either go to the cardio room or run a few laps around the park.

For Cervantes, what motivates her to stay in swim is, “I’ve had this plan in my head that I would do water polo and swim, so I didn’t really care that there were obstacles that I had to go through,” said Cervantes.

For Mendez what motivates her to keep doing this sport is, “Best friends.”

Recently, the swim team did get a new assistant coach, Travis King. King has had many coaching experiences. He’s coached other high school swim teams, girls water polo, and even referees water polo games. 

“My goal for this team is to see each kid get their personal best,” said King.

Alex Bernal
Sophomore, Jude Marting at Santa Ana High School Swim Meet on March 22, 2019.

Sophomore Jude Marting agrees that “People should join aquatics because it’s like being part of a big family. We spend a lot of quality time together, which not a lot of other teams get to do. Since practice is a little bit later, we have a lot of time to hang out with each other. We really do look like a family.” Cervantes added, “It’s definitely hard but it’s really fun and the energy is good.”

Of course, athletes have goals for themselves and the team.

Freshman, Omar Martinez, said, “My goal is to get faster and improve my form.”

Marting has set some big goals for himself as well. He said, “My goal is to break the school record for the 100 breaststroke.” The time for this school record is 01:07.

The team encourages others to join the aquatics program and to be a part of the team, or as Marting puts it,  be a part of a “big family.”