On Jan. 16, McLean’s swim and dive teams went up against Wakefield in one of the last dual meets of the season. Both the girls’ and boys’ teams won tremendously, with scores of 220-89 and 224-81 respectively.

“I feel new every time I come [to Wakefield], I get to hang out and meet new people, it makes every week special.” senior Bryan Seo said.

Energy was high on both teams, with swimmers cheering each other on from the pool deck.

“Even though I’m a freshman, all the upperclassmen and the coaches were hyping up this meet,” said freshman Nora Bartkowski, who placed third in the 200-yard freestyle. “It was really good to see all the girls’ work pay off, and the boys worked really hard too.”

Not only was the meet a decisive victory for McLean, but a number of swimmers swam personal bests as well.

“[Wakefield] has a good pool and everyone was hype,” Bartkowski said. “I was feeling pretty good going into the meet.”

The girls were coming off an exciting victory against Langley the previous week, winning by just three points on senior night.

“Overall, the season is going great. It’s been really fun,” senior Marjorie Coffman said. “We have a really strong team of girls.”

The boys, however, were looking for a strong win before ending into the final stretch of the season.

“I was swimming the 200 and 400 free relays and our teams came in last, so I was really sad about that,” Seo said. “After that, I went to practice every day, including club practice.”

With districts just around the corner, swimmers on both the girls and boys teams are getting in the pool as much as possible to prepare for a strong performance in the competition.

“We gather around in the water, cheer each other on and have team dinners,” Seo said. “We’re building team spirit every week.”