The swim team competed in Districts on Oct. 27, with the athletes placing in their event.

“I got third in my event,” senior Ram Marana said. “My event was the same as in Cape Coast Conference, which was a 50-yard freestyle.”

However, there were some issues at Districts. 

“In Districts, I was very disappointed because on the scores the time keepers messed up my timing from 34.07 seconds to 34.65 seconds,” freshman Sophia Fetouh said. “I am very sad and overall just wished that didn’t happen.”

With Districts now complete and West Shore having a good enough time record to advance, the swimmers competed in Regionals on Nov. 3. The swimmers attending Regionals also placed in their event again.

“The others that went did great,” Fetouh said. “Nicole Riopelle and Lance Stern were both able to win first in their events and both broke a West Shore record.” 

Many swimmers didn’t go to Regionals even though they qualified. 

“A lot of people did not go to Regionals. One of the main reasons is probably because Regionals was going to be late in the day on a Wednesday,” Fetouh said. “Many students wouldn’t get back home until 11 p.m. Also at the same time, many of us are injured or became sick.”

Marana did not qualify for Regionals but was added as a substitute because of how many swimmers were out. 

“I did not qualify for Regionals,” he said. “But because so many people were out, [Rebecca] Matoska, the swim coach, wanted me to sub in to try and keep our times up. I am definitely not the best swimmer, but it was nice to be chosen as a substitute. I didn’t do too well in Regionals because I was told at the last minute I was going to sub in, but I tried my best because I know how invested everyone is. We all want to do well.”

However, as a whole the team placed enough firsts to be going to States.

“The team did great,” Fetouh said. “I wasn’t there so I don’t know the full story, but what I do know is that West Shore swam well.”

The scheduled date for States is Nov. 10.

By Arabella Belcher