By Henry O’Donnell
Congratulations to the Swim Team for becoming League Champions! The victory comes the week before the team competed in the Divisional competition, a determiner of league placement within Westchester. The Tigers cemented their win against Blind Brook (98-82) and won the League along with it.
With a secured spot on the illustrious gym hallways, the team is proud to have such a victorious round in contrast to the last four years’ records being 3 or 4 games shy of the league.
Tigers began their season with a win against Suffern (91-87), beginning the momentum of the season. After winning meets against Ossining (87-82), Yorktown (95-83), and Yonkers (95-78), the excitement began to build and contributed to the team’s mood and success. The wins built to a crescendo of enthusiasm that led to the Tigers’ victory over Lakeland, Wappingers, and eventually Blind Brook.
Entering the season, the team knew that two meets were going to be especially pivotal- Wappingers and Lakeland. Databases lent managers the ability to match times, and it seemed that it would come down very tightly for one team’s favor. At the Lakeland meet, Tigers managed a marginal but meaningful victory- right before the last race, Lakeland had been beating the Tigers by a point (78-77); however, the 400 Free Relay gave Tigers just the points to beat Lakeland 87-82. The meet was incredibly tense.
Surprisingly tense, too, was the Ossining meet. Predictions among the team overwhelmingly favored the White Plains Tigers; however, the points came down much closer (87-82).
Divisional occurs after each season for every League-participating school in Westchester. This competition determines who moves up a league within Westchester. Going into divisional, the team was determined and resolved to win. Moving up into a stronger and more competitive league would mean closer and more intense meets and more opportunities to learn from stronger teams. This very stressful meet culminated in a final win for the Tigers! This means the team will move up to compete against League 1 teams.
As a senior who has been on the team since Freshman year, the energy this year has felt nothing short of electric. The show of teamwork, hard work, and commitment to the team has been truly refreshing, and it makes me so sad to leave!