On Friday Feb. 16, the Summit swim team sent sixteen swimmers to the Tualatin Hills aquatic center in Beaverton to compete for the class 5A State Title. A week before, the boys and girls team had placed first and third in districts, respectively. The team has focused on hammering in the basics while training this season, working on their stroke and technique before moving on to speed, and they saw it pay off at State when the boys claimed third place and the girls fifth. 

Senior Daniella Dispenza, a swim captain, was proud of her team’s performance despite the challenges of adjusting to new coaching styles brought on by a completely new coaching staff. “Honestly, I felt like it was a huge accomplishment personally and as a team,” said Dispenza. “I felt like we deserved to go to state with the amount of people that went, everyone worked really hard and put in the effort and it showed.”

Dispenza added that she saw a lot of improvement from the last swim season, a trend which is sure to continue in years to come.